The Kyuubi: Pillage and Plunder
by Tobmaster
Summary: Now that it isn't talk like a pirate day anymore, I'll make the summary a little more clear for those unable to translate. This is a short AU story about life on a planet made up almost entirely of water. Instead of countries, there are islands and instead of ninja, the population has opted for ocean going occupations... AKA pirating! Contains Naru/Hina: ARRRRR! Set sail!
1. Chapter 1

Arrrrr, well shiver me timbers, there be a little something fer ya landlubbers... It be a tale written many ago which I pillaged from the depth of me ol HDD and decided to share with ye all. You may all partake in the bounty of this tale and maybe get hornswaggled out of a few reviews...

Arrrr... Don't forget you scallywags; September 19 is international talk like a pirate day... Arrrr.

* * *

The Kyuubi: Pillage and Plunder

* * *

It has been said that with each decision you make, a world is created... Therefore, for each and every decision you could have made, there exists a corresponding world. this is the main basis of the theory of multiple realities or the multi-universe theory. With infinite worlds in different states of advancement, if you were capable of moving from one world to another, you can stumble upon a world very similar, yet so different than the one you currently live in, thus every possible permutation of the world exists, whatever you can imagine probably exists out there.

Now everyone knows the progression of the once outcast of Konoha, Naruto, as he grew up to be an exceptional ninja with the help of friends along the way, but things could have gone differently, especially if the world was a much different place…

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

"Ahoy there!" Called out a blonde haired man, with a hand held in the air, while walking down a steep embankment towards the aging docks of the marina. The gulls were squawking overhead, nearly drowning out the thunking and creaking of the tread boards underneath the feet of the young man. He was man with no family and no real background, but suddenly found himself with a vast amount of wealth when he turned 21. Most guys his age with that kind of fortune would find a quiet village and a beautiful woman to enjoy life with, but he had different ambitions…

"Ahoy Gaki!" Greeted the old white haired man known the island over as Jiraiya. He was a perverted old man, who enjoyed chasing the ladies, and was once a decorated captain of the Fire country's navy. He had since gone into business designing ships for the merchant trade on the small, independent Island known primarily for its protective uzumakis, or whirlpools, protecting it... Uzumaki Island and its well protected port, Uzumakigakure no kaikou (the port hidden in the whirlpool). Being an independent island outside of the reach of the 5 elemental islands, you could find many illegal goods and services, so it was the perfect port to attract pirates and their business.

"Oy, I'm not a kid anymore; I am 25 now." Naruto reminded as he smacked the old man on the back jovially.

"Maybe to you, but I'm still over twice your age, so you're still a kid to me." He replied while shoving the blonde backwards.

"That just means you're old." Jiraiya snorted at the blonde's comment before he stood proudly and puffed out his chest.

"Not old…seasoned. Just the way the wenches like it, right?" He commented with his signature smile of perversion while ribbing the younger man with an elbow.

"Sure they do… Well, back to business. Is she ready?" Naruto inquired, bringing him back to the task at hand.

"She sure is… We just put her in the water to check the bilge for any leaks, and she's looking good."

"Is that her over there?" Naruto asked, pointing to a magnificent ship floating in port. The sails were drawn in, showing off its 3 large masts. This galleon class vessel had matching foremast and mizzenmast with a gargantuan mainmast between them, each with three large sails per mast.

"You've got the eye of a captain, aye; that be your ship."

"It's better than I thought it'd be." Jiraiya nodded in agreement with the offhanded assessment.

"I tell you what boy, when you brought me those plans, I thought they would never work with the sheer weight and volume of the hull, but man, those calculations were perfect. Once I realized there wasn't a single error in the math, I could set in and build her without worrying."

"That's great. Is she armed like ordered?"

"Well, if anyone asks, those 30 canons portholes are just for looks… you didn't get the artillery from me." Jiraiya mentioned while looking over his shoulders. Even though the island was known for shady dealings, there was still a risk when dealing in weapons of war.

"Fair enough… What about that special main canon?" This was where Jiraiya started looking weird and nudged closer as to not be overheard.

"I don't know who designed that thing, but I'd like to meet him one day." The old man whispered close enough that he could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"That will be hard." Naruto commented while backing away with a sullen look. "The plans for both the ship and canon were left to me by my father, Namikaze Minato."

"You mean _the_ Minato? I remember that boy back in my days as captain of '_Gamabunta_.' He was quite the boy… So that was your father…"

"Now I expect that you will keep the wraps on these plans?" Naruto confirmed, knowing that the fewer people who knew of them, the better.

"Yeah, that's not a problem… Anyways, what will you call her? The ship?" Naruto looked back out at the massive ship and thought about it. You could see the dark crimson sails even in their closed state, which started the young captain's mind rolling.

"Kyuubi."

"Kyuubi?"

"Aye. Named for the nine large red sails. It just seems to invoke a feeling that it is a demonic ship. Every port will know the name; the demon left to me by my father." Jiraiya's face broke into a wide grin and nodded with satisfaction.

"Aye, that be a fitting name. You got your crew ready?"

"I believe so. There's one guy I need to still recruit and I'm taking a major risk by bringing a female medic on board, but that wench can punch a hole through you if you're not careful, so I believe she will survive."

"I see… Is she hot?" He asked with a glitter in his eye.

"Well, kind of, but she's really into my best mate, so I try to not indulge in wondering about it."

"Very noble my boy… You may decide to go back on that once you are out to sea and she's the only piece of ass within miles." Even the blonde started getting nervous with that level of thinking from the perv.

"Well, I guess I'll figure that out when the time comes." Naruto grinned wide at the old shipwright and held out his hand. After the customary handshake was finished, the 'Kyuubi' was now in his possession.

"See you around." The blonde lifted his hand in a small wave and headed back towards his house to finish packing his belongings for the trip and headed headed towards the local saloon with his loaded pack in tow.

When he stepped into the establishment, everyone stopped and stared at the man in bright orange pants and shirt, covered by a black vest. He had a cutlass (cliché pirate sword) attached to his waist and a grin plastered on his face. Naruto looked around the place until he spotted the man he was after, an old silvery haired guy with a patch over his left eye.

He had been a top rate sailor for many years until his first mate lost his life in a battle where he lost his eye. After that he disbanded his crew and stopped sailing. Now, he was just a man who spent his life reading smutty novels in skanky bars with a drink in his hand.

Naruto slid into the seat across from the man and wasn't even acknowledged. He sat for a moment, staring at the man who was probably only 10 years older than he, yet seemed to have much more knowledge than a common man. You could see the discoloration around the eye patch from the scar tissue signifying that it wasn't just for show.

"I told you before, I won't set sail again." The one eyed man finally mentioned while taking another sip of whiskey. The comment didn't even spark any emotion with the blonde.

"Who said I was here to ask again?" Naruto inquired. The guy ignored the question and flipped a page in his book.

"So why are you here then? You were pretty adamant about recruiting me a year ago after I taught you everything you needed to know about captaining."

"Well, I figured nothing I could say would change your mind, I just wanted to let you know that I will be setting sail tomorrow morning at 5am sharp aboard the '_Kyuubi'_ a ship built from the plans my father left me."

"And?"

"And well… I thought you would have liked to see the main canon in action." Naruto could see his eyebrow raised, it wasn't often that one would outfit a main canon on ships these days, most battles were fought at broadside.

"Did you give the canon a name?" The blonde's smile returned to his face while he stood from the table and turned for the door. He looked back over his shoulder and leaned in with a whisper…

"It's called _Rasengan_." Naruto started chuckling when the book the man was reading dropped to the table with a thunk before he picked it up again and continued reading, trying to recoil from the sudden intrigue. The blonde headed out the door and into the streets of the port town, knowing the seed had been sown and all he had to do was wait with his fingers crossed.

Naruto was just arriving back at the harbor as the sun was setting and went straight for his newly crafted ship, _'Kyuubi'_. When he stepped onto the firm deck, his smile broke out again; it was almost too much to take in that this was entirely his. He closed his eyes and took in the sound of the wind slapping the ropes against the masts in a rhythmic tune. He slowly opened his eyes and headed to the aft of the ship to the captain's quarters where there was a simple bed in the corner and a massive desk in the center. Upon the desk sat a captain's tri corner hat, one he always dreamed of wearing. He placed the satchel of his belongings on the floor and picked up the hat before trying it on his head. He grinned and flopped into the captain's chair and threw his feet on the desk.

"Belay that order!" He shouted while point a serious finger at an imaginary person and started laughing afterwards.

"This is going to be great." He called out happily and tossed his hat back onto the desk and started to unpack his belongings before turning in for the night. The gentle swaying of the ship would be one that caused many a person to feel nauseous, but Naruto felt at home and had the most restful sleep of his life onboard '_Kyuubi'_.

* * *

When morning came, there was a thick and heavy fog lingering over the port, blocking off visibility to just a few meters. Naruto was dressed with his new hat and stood on the deck of his ship, pacing and waiting for his crew to arrive. He was waiting for about 15 minutes before the sound of bickering rang across the waters, bringing a smile to his face.

"Sasuke-kun! Don't walk so fast; I can't keep up."

"Then don't bring so much stuff." The obviously male voice grunted back.

"You could offer to carry something at least!" She threw back, but to no avail. The raven haired man appeared through the fog and started to ascended the long board connecting the ship to the dock below and nodded to Naruto.

"Permission to come aboard captain?" He stated as happily as the unemotional man was capable.

"Of course Sasuke, you're the first mate after all." Sasuke was wearing his usual blue jacket and black shorts and quickly jumped to the deck with his small knapsack in hand. What came next was actually kind of funny. A young woman with pink hair, dressed in a red shirt and black shorts, was trying to drag two human sized chests up the ramp, while cussing and swearing to their uncooperative nature.

"Need help Sakura-chan?" Her eyes looked up with a glare at the captain's question.

"What do you think?" She growled through clenched teeth. Naruto chuckled before heading down and helped her load the large chests on deck.

"That is a lot of medical gear." He commented, while pushing one chest to the front of the ship where the sick bay was located.

"Actually, only one has medical supplies." She informed while pulling the luggage into the only place that could be her room, which she shared with sick bay.

"And the other?" He asked, not sure what was so valuable

"My clothes, duh!" Naruto instantly dropped the other case to the ground and turned his back

"Gah… you're on your own then." The captain replied and abandoned the struggling medic. He was headed back to the side of the ship while his other hired hands started steadily flowing onboard and filing towards the crew quarters.

* * *

The time was approaching 5am now and all the hands were running about the ship, preparing to cast off on the maiden voyage. There were men hanging from the ladders on the masts and standing by near the anchoring locations for the sails.

"Captain, we are ready for departure." Sasuke declared. Naruto nodded and kept an eye on the lifting fog while the clock started ticking. There were no more boarders as far as the eye could see, so with a sigh, he stood up straight.

"All hands, prepare for launch. Bring in the mooring lines and cast off." The docking plank was pulled aboard after freeing the lines from the dock and was secured to the ship for travel. The massive ship started slowly drifting away from the dock right as Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw a man running straight towards them at a high rate of speed. His usual smile came back to his face as he ran to the port side and held his hand out as far and as low as he could. The man jumped like some inhuman thing and just barely grasped the outstretched hand to be pulled aboard.

"You're late Kakashi-sensei."

"Aye, there was this old lady…" The silver haired man was flung onto the deck before he was able to complete his excuse.

"No more excuses, now I'm sure you know what to do here, LETS GO!" Naruto jumped up to the helm and grabbed the large wooden wheel. Kakashi looked out at the crew scrambling to ready the sails and shook his head.

"My first impression is... I don't like you guys." The older man ran about the ship, ordering the different crew members what to do so they all got on the same page before indicating to the captain that they were ready.

"MEN! Full Sail!"

"Aye, captain." Rang the reply. The large sails dropped and the wood creaked while the ship accelerated quickly. The acceleration was quite unusual for a ship of its size, all due to the design which maximized sail area to pull every last bit of efficiency out of it. Within a few short minutes, the ship left the safety of the port and headed towards the open seas.

"Prepare for passing through the uzumaki zone; extend the auxiliary sails!" Two large arms extended outward from each, the foremast and mizzenmast, and soon after four large sails opened and filled out in the wind.

You could see the look of panic on the 'landlubbers' as they saw the great whirlpools surrounding the island come into view and the ship was headed straight for one of them. Naruto wiped a bead of sweat from his face and held tight to the wheel; if he let go now, the whole ship would be lost and all was riding on him. Right before reaching the edge of the massive current, he spun the wheel starboard and placed the ship along the edge of the current and angle the ship to catch full wind. The sails rippled in the breeze as the ship tilted on the horizon of the whirlpool. The addition of the sails and current's speed on the edge helped them to reach escape velocity and into the wide open expanse of the great blue ocean.

"Bring in the auxiliaries!" Naruto commanded while locking the wheel straight on towards the horizon. Once the sails were secured, he sighed and headed towards his cabin. He stuffed his slightly shaking hands into his pockets to hide them from view; holding that many people's lives in your hands is always difficult, but no one else needed to know just how difficult it was.

"All officers, to the captain's quarters." Naruto ordered over his shoulder before he opened the door and headed into his room; sitting upon his chair behind the desk. He leisurely propped his feet on the desk and waited for his officers to filter in.

"Before we get started, I would like to introduce you all to each other: Our first mate, Uchiha Sasuke, medic, Haruno Sakura, cook, Akamichi Choji, strategist and navigator, Nara Shikamaru, and finally Hatake Kakashi, general advisor. Take Kakashi-sensei's advice anytime it is given, his knowledge of sailing is second to none."

"Understood, kanchou (should mean the captain of a warship), but what is the purpose of this voyage?" Shikamaru asked.

"Good question… We're really just looking to have some fun and maybe make a ton of cash in the process. The nature of this mission is now open to discussion and suggestions." Naruto informed to a surprised group of sailors

"As long as we got food, I'll go anywhere." Choji replied, happily stuffing his face with a bag of chips he brought aboard.

"Alright, a good place to start… We need to _acquire_ some funds for our voyage; I used the remainder of my fortune with the primary outfitting of the ship, so any suggestions on cash flow?"

"To be clear… we are pirates, yes?"

"You are correct Shikamaru, anything goes except for bankrupting good people." Naruto replied while straightening his hat.

"Alright, good… I don't have a desire to attack valid merchants, so we may have to do a little more research on our targets…"

"Cerebral pirates…" Sasuke commented while mulling over the concept and nodding.

"Kakashi-sensei, have you heard of any prime targets?" Naruto questioned, seeing as how he always had his ear to the pulse of the sea ways, seeing as how he practically lived in a bar.

"I heard from a few naval officers in the saloon that there was an investigation on a merchant who runs Wave Island, by the name of Gato. He was getting rich off of the shipping lanes between the islands around Wave. Technically what he is doing isn't illegal, so the navy can't move on him, but he is putting smaller merchants under with his questionable practices by forcing higher than normal mooring costs for all but their own contracted ships. There is also talk that he may be hiring privateers to pirate the other competing merchants and stealing back the very product he sold to them."

"Sounds like a prime target, any objections?" Naruto saw no complaints and Shikamaru pulled out a large map a compass and a protractor.

* * *

You could see, via the map, that the world was 98% water; all of the world's known land masses, which were few and far between, were accounted for on that one navigation map. The largest of these islands were known as the 'elemental islands': Fire Island, Wind Island, Rock Island, Lightning Island, and Water Island. Each of these large Islands held a fortified port, which only a fool would dare attack. Shikamaru did some quick calculations with the tools and nodded upon completion.

"We should arrive in two days, we just need to adjust course two degrees to port and we'll be on track."

"Good work Shikamaru, tell the helmsman to make the adjustments…. Let's go to Wave Isle!" After the captain's orders, the officers filed out of the room, leaving Naruto to ponder the first mission as captain and the first mission for the Kyuubi.

* * *

As soon as the sun came up the next morning, Naruto went topside and looked out across the sea towards where they were headed. After about an hour, he saw something on the horizon. He pulled out his handy scope and looked outward.

"Man the crow's nest! Look 4 degrees starboard at the horizon!" He ordered to get confirmation.

"Aye, captain." Shouted one of the men before he ran up the ladder. He brought a large scope to his eyes and peered across the sea and found the object the captain spotted.

"There be two ships approaching, one is a sloop and the other is a frigate." He called down.

"Are they flying any colors?"

"No sir, they are incognito." Naruto held his hand to his chin and thought while looking towards Kakashi, where he was plunked down on the deck reading one of his books.

"Go to half sail and prepare for battle!" He finally commanded after deliberation.

"AYE SIR!"

"Good call Naruto." Kakashi complimented. "Those who don't fly colors are normally pirates."

"Kanchou, there is something I'd like to discuss." Interrupted Shikamaru.

"About?"

"We should think about expanding our fleet? While the Kyuubi is a brilliant ship, it lacks maneuverability. If we were to add two maneuverable ships to our side, we would have enough capabilities to go after the more dangerous targets."

"It is a good plan Shikamaru, but why talk about expanding when we are only on our first voyage. Besides, we need plenty of loot to buy more ships." Naruto reminded.

"True, but who said anything about buying? The thought was: if we could keep the damage to a minimum, we could plunder the coming ships and add them to our fleet."

"Hmmm, I see. Do you have a strategy then?"

"Actually, I have five." He replied with a smirk.

* * *

The two ships came closer and closer. Each minute passed like an eternity. You could tell they were on a direct intercept course with the Kyuubi, but not their true intention. This would actually be a common occurrence around many of the larger islands. The harbor master would send out scout ships to escort a merchant into safe waters if there was a reef or other obstacle in the area. The problem is that pirates would use the same tactic around port villages just to get in close without suspicion.

"Ahoy!" A voice called out from the larger of the two ships when they were within range.

"Ahoy!" Naruto called back and waved. The two boats came up alongside the Kyuubi, the frigate was port side and their captain was walking closer to get a look at the Kyuubi.

"Is she a new ship?" The captain asked, almost getting a greedy smile on his lips.

"You can tell?"

"Of course, with deck boards like that, it could only be new." The captain continued surveying the deck and started to smile openly. "Say, where's your crew?"

"Crew? Oh I'm heading to wave to pick them up, and maybe some armaments. This ship was pretty expensive and I haven't had the time to fully outfit her." At times like this, Naruto was glad he was a prankster at heart and had the art of lying down.

"Oh? It is quite dangerous to be out here alone."

"I'm not alone, that would be stupid. My first mate in down below, he's a little green, if you know what I mean? And my medic, Sakura is on board, but all the heavy lifting has been done by myself… It has been slow going, but we're making it."

"Two people and a wench… Men! Come aboard!" Suddenly the large galleon was being flooded by enemy sailors; ugly, rough looking bastards. There was only a small skeleton crew left on the frigate, just like Shikamaru had planned. Sasuke and a few men snuck out of the canon portholes, while the enemy was occupied, and leapt to the sides of the frigate, easily infiltrating the smaller ship and set in on subduing the remaining crew silently. Now the sloop, on the other hand, was completely abandoned as the tiny crew made a dash to the galleon, making it even easier for Shikamaru to jump on board and commandeer the vessel.

"Did you find the wench!?" The enemy captain called out to his crew as he held a sword to Naruto's throat. Before there was a reply he looked back to the blonde.

"Well, it looks like your days of captaining are already past. Say hello to Davey Jones for me." The man pulled back his sword readying for the finishing blow.

"NOW!" Naruto shouted! The main sails of the two enemy ships dropped and accelerated away from alongside the galleon, surprising their crew. Some attempted to leap aboard their ships at the last minute, but they horribly miscalculated the distance and fell toward the water below. Loud battle cries sounded as the crew of the Kyuubi exploded from below deck, from under canvas tarps, and even came climbing up from the sides through the canon holes and surrounding the intruders.

"Time to surrender." Sounded Kakashi's voice with a blade held to the enemy captain's throat. The enemy captain dropped his sword and Let Naruto loose.

"Kanchou, your orders?" Asked the silver haired pirate.

"Tie up the crew, we will let them go after landing on Wave Isle, and for the captain… He can walk the plank." Naruto placed his hat back upon his head and wiped the blood from his neck caused by the enemy's sword.

"No wait, have mercy." Cried the enemy captain. Naruto stopped and turned to the man.

"You would have killed me and my crew and done unspeakable things to my medic. I am gentle and kind, almost to a fault, but never endanger my crew and friends… WALK THE PLANK!" There was a loud scream before a hard splash down on the surface of the water. Naruto walked to the back of the ship and leaned against the wheel with his head down cast. Once the enemy crew was loaded into the hold, the blonde captain raised his head with a large grin plastered upon it. Their first pirating maneuver was a success.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted while bringing the frigate alongside. Looking over, he saw the dark haired guy holding up a hand full of gold doubloons.

"Nice Sasuke! What are you going to name your ship?" The man's onyx colored eyes widened in surprise while Naruto started to laugh.

"Come on, don't be that surprised… to the victor go the spoils, so they say."

"How about… Susanoo?"

"Kind of dark and creepy… I like it. Shikamaru, you want that one?"

"I have no desire to captain a ship, captain… or I guess it should be admiral now, huh."

"Hmm, admiral… I like that. Ok Shikamaru, if that is your desire, we'll find another captain for the sloop."

"Agreed, now according to the ship's registration, it already has a name; it's called Akamaru."

"Akamaru… how quaint…" Kakashi muttered.

"Alright, men, onward to Wave Isle… Full sail!" Naruto Shouted with his finger held towards the horizon. The nine large sails dropped and rustled in the wind, propelling them towards their continued adventure.

* * *

Arrrrr, this be the end of chapter 1. Enjoy your day and expect the remainder of this tale to appear be you can swab the poop deck.

...Later


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

The three ships sailed through the night in a delta formation. With gentle breeze at their backs, they were steadily gaining ground on the Isle of wave. When Naruto went topside, just before dawn, he was surprised to see a thick eerie fog was hanging heavy around their ship. They had completely lost sight of the other two ships, but could verify their location by the gentle ringing of their bells every few minutes for as such an occasion warrants.

"How long has this fog been here?" Naruto asked the night watchman.

"It just rolled in, sir, we spotted the lights of the island and then everything went blank like this. I didn't know whether to keep going and risk running aground or stop to wait it out."

"Aye, good work; go get some rest while its quiet, we'll have a village to plunder by nightfall."

"Aye, sir!" The man nodded respectfully to the blonde and headed to his bunk, leaving the safety of the fleet in his care.

Naruto tried to peer into the dense fog, but couldn't even see the foremast from his spot by the wheel. Never before had he seen a fog that dense. Kakashi stepped up next to Naruto and leaned on the railing by the wheel, looking out in the fog.

"Ever seen a fog this thick?" Naruto asked.

"Once… Fog like this always surrounded Water Island. No one who ventured into it would never return. When I experienced it, we turned about and left. There can be dangerous things lying in wait, hidden in a fog." Naruto nodded as he processed the information and then suddenly perked up and looked around.

"Stop the bells! Everyone silent!" The bright ringing stopped and Naruto cupped his hands around his ears. He turned to the left, then to the right… He paused there for a moment, listening to the waves strike against the ship, lap against the distant ship, Susanoo and against…

"ALL HANDS! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!" Naruto grabbed the bottom of the wheel and whipped it to the left. The ship suddenly banked hard and turned slightly to the right. The crew members scrambled to get to their designated stations, but they were currently shorthanded with having to man the other ships.

Wondering just what was going through the young admiral's head, Kakashi was about to lace into him, when he finally heard it too, the sound of a ship crashing through the waters at full speed, as opposed to their half speed. He ran to the poop deck, just in time to see a faded form of a large ship with the telltale signs of a reinforced ramming hull. Although it was clearly a ramming ship, the hull had a strange blade like shape to it, making its purpose look to be more for splitting the hull of a ship and not puncture it.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled out. "It is the '_Kubikiribōchō_' captained by one of the seven generals of Kirigakure no kaikou (The port Hidden in the Mist), Zabuza. He defected from Kiri and became a privateer, a pirate for hire."

"Little busy here!" The blonde shouted back while fighting with the wheel. The rear of the ship barely moved out of the way of the ramming ship, but they weren't out of the woods, yet; they now had the weakest point, the rear, along the broadside of the intruding ship.

"Swivel guns, defensive fire! Aim at their cannon windows! Someone get on the stern chaser!" Canon fire echoed as the Kyuubi managed to start firing first. The enemy ship's canon windows opened to return fire but some were greeted with iron projectiles, knocking a few of the canons out of commission. Unfortunately there were still over 3/4 of the 20 canons remaining to return fire.

Large puffs of smoke billowed out from the large ship and hot iron was heading their way. Some of the projectiles tore through the partially opened sails and broke some of the rigging lines. Screaming was heard as the man in the crow's nest was sent flying from his post after a hot ball of iron tore through the uppermost portion of the main mast. Two more heavy projectiles tore through the upper rear deck and landed not more than 10 feet from Naruto and were embedded in the decking. Splinters where flying in every direction, but luckily the salvo ended with most projectiles missing altogether and landing in in the ocean with a towering splash.

"Order the fleet: ALL STOP!" The large bell was still in operation and started sounding out the code to the other two ships to inform them of their orders, when a small nimble ship appeared in front of them, Firing its smaller canon towards the prow.

"There's a second!?" Shouted the lookout at the fore of the ship. The swivel guns at the front open fired on the small three mast sloop. It was easily the same size, maybe even bigger than 'Akamaru' and was incredibly fast. Its smaller gauge canon shells struck hard against the reinforced prow and did little damage, aside from a broken rail on the starboard side.

"Our other ships are sitting ducks!" Kakashi reminded as the new smaller ship was headed straight for where the other two should have been.

"I'm aware of that, but we can't be running into our own ships! I'll come about and pass between them, when we do, we will have a short time to call out our plans." Naruto took the wheel and tossed it in the opposite direction. As they came about, they stumbled upon the Kubikiribōchō still in its turning maneuver. Since the ship was heavier than the Kyuubi, it turns were larger and slower.

"Starboard; FIRE!" The large cannons lined on the side of the 'Kyuubi' boomed to life, raining heavy metal on the enemy. Instead of pursuing after confirming multiple hits, they proceeded with the plan to regroup.

"Look, the fog is lifting!" Shouted a man hanging from the fore 'Jacob's Ladder'. Sure enough, the fog was quickly burning off under the sun's rays. Within a few minutes they could now see 100 yards around their ship, but still didn't have eyes on the other ships until 'Susanoo' and 'Akamaru' Passed through the outer rim of fog

"Signal Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted.

"No need sir, he's sending word now." The code was sent from the sloop by way of an orange flag. Naruto had to focus on steering the ship back about to catch the wind before they slowed too far and had to rely on the others to take in the strategy.

"Sasuke is going after the sloop, Akamaru will hold fast and we are to put pressure on Zabuza." Kakashi informed.

"Alright, let's make them wish they never messed with the Kyuubi!" Naruto shouted energetically.

"Broadsides… Wait for my order!" The large galleon pulled back into the wind right was the remaining fog lifted off, revealing the enemy was bearing down on them once more, but with the restored sight, they could see it coming. Naruto cranked the ship to port and placed the full broad side towards the prow of Kubikiribōchō.

"Fire, Fire, FIRE!" Explosions rocked the lower decks as the many canon fired in succession, the reinforced keel started to splinter on that great ship while the masts took heavy damage, including the complete destruction of the main mast as it fell to the side and crashed down into the water. The large ship started to veer off uncontrollably when the smaller sloop, being chased by Sasuke and 'Susanoo', ended up being in its path. The larger ship struck the sloop dead on the broad side with its sharp prow and crushed its hull and spitting the ship in two. Zabuza now found his ship drifting helplessly between the broadsides of the frigate 'Susano and the great Galleon, Kyuubi.

Shards of wood flew up high in the sky with every massive explosion from the twin salvos. Small explosions rocked the enemy ship from the barrels of gunpowder staged for use in the cannons. A massive fire ball then erupted from the center of the ship, from the ignited powder store, splitting the hull in the center.

"We hit the black powder cache!" The remaining sailors on board the sinking ship leapt carelessly into the sea in hopes of prolonging life and taking their chances with the sea creatures. Some hit debris along the ocean surface and others were impaled on sharp pieces of wood and never made it to the water. It was a tough battle for the crew, but the victor was clearly decided.

"Raise the sails and start repairs. We make landfall tonight." Naruto let out a long sigh and leaned on the wheel, drained from the intense battle. Once the sails were taken in, he locked the wheel in its position and headed to his cabin to rest.

"Why didn't we try the main canon?" Kakashi questioned, as that was the entire reason that he ended up coming on the voyage.

"It isn't ready yet, we need a few more things to make it ready." He could tell that Kakashi wasn't satisfied with that answer, but it was mostly because he had yet to decipher exactly what it needed to fire. The plans for it were executed to a 'T', but as it sat, it was just a 50 ton piece of iron and wood with no ammunition – just a figurehead on the prow of the ship. Naruto closed the door to his cabin and groaned while sitting down in his chair. This wasn't his first time at sea, but it was the first battle he commanded and it weighed on him with the number of lives lost both on his ship and the enemy's. His eyes soon shut while leaning back in the chair.

* * *

A loud knock brought Naruto back from the nap he fell into. Much to his surprise, the sun ahead already faded and the port hole windows were already dark. He let out a groan as he stretched out his neck muscles from sitting awkwardly in the chair right as another knock echoed in his chamber.

"Aye, enter." The door opened and Shikamaru walked in.

"Sir, I'd like to discuss strategy with you."

"Good, come on in."

"Alright, well…" Shikamaru laid out a detailed map of the area and already had a few points drawn on the map.

"There are artillery emplacements at four points, here, here and two overlooking here. These three guard the main harbor and docks."

"So hit em hard and fast?"

"Close…" Shikamaru indicated a large circle around the harbor area. "What I suggest is bringing the Kyuubi and Susanoo to bear on these two emplacements directly surrounding the harbor. While they are doing battle, we send the Akamaru into the harbor to take out the docks. Without a way to board their ships, we will have effectively ended their offensive power before they even got started. We will then have to take out the other two artilleries by land so we can escape without damage."

"And what if there are crews already on the ships?"

"Already thought about that. We took some of the spare swivel guns and mounted them to the rails of the Akamaru so we can more accurately target the rudders of the moored ships. Without a way to turn, they could never be of any use."

"That's a sound plan… If possible, I'd like to not cause too much damage to those ships, they may have some good loot on board."

"Aye, we shall do our best."

"Good to hear… When do we launch the attack?"

"The sortie starts in one hour."

"Alright, I'm going to check on the sick bay. Head back to the Akamaru and prepare." Shikamaru nodded and rolled up his maps and took his leave. The blonde admiral stood from his chair and headed for the sick bay at the fore of the ship. He could hear loud shouts and orders being given as he stepped through the doors and saw Sakura running between her patients with a few crew members acting as makeshift medics.

"How goes the battle?"

"What do you think?" She shouted in reply. Her hands were covered in the dark red fluid while wrapping a large wound.

"I've already lost 5 because I couldn't get to them soon enough."

"Yeah, but how many were saved?"

"Uh… 15 or so."

"You're doing well then." She looked over with a pointed glare, it was obvious she was irritated at the fact that she wasn't able to help all of them.

"I would do better if we could get a few more medics, I really can't keep up with this."

"Understood. Once we make landfall and secure our booty, we will check to see if we can recruit some more crew members; we still need to finish outfitting the additions to our fleet.

"Good, now try not to cause any more deaths." She challenged.

"No guarantees, but I'll do what I can." Naruto turned to leave her to her duties and walked the deck of the ship. There were already a few deck boards creaking and bowed from the combination of salt water and sun despite its young age. He made a personal note to take care of some of those details once they are through with the current campaign.

* * *

You could see the distant, dim lights of the small port town flicker as they closed in on the small island. Higher up on the hills of the surface sat a series of bright lights, drowning out the port below… the headquarters of the Gato Corporation. Light house towers were located atop the 4 artillery emplacements, casting a beam of light across the sea. The three ships positioned themselves just outside of the range of the towers before executing the mission.

"ATTACK!" Naruto commanded. The two larger ships moved forward, staying just out of the reach of the two distant artillery batteries, leaving the Akamaru behind, still hidden in the unlit waters. The longest range canons onboard each ship were trained carefully on the light towers and with a puff of smoke and series of booms, the sea turned dark.

The small sloop now opened its sails and headed into the harbor at its best speed, quickly passing by the frigate and galleon as they aligned their broadsides to their targets now that they weren't able to be seen easily. The artilleries opened fired, but with the lack of light, they were all just shots in the dark. Canon balls whizzed overhead, still missing the ships as they nudged closer. With a sudden turn of the wheel, the 30 broad side canons flared to life, followed closely behind by the 20 from the frigate. The muzzle flares from the canons onboard lit their location to the emplacements, but it was too little too late for them as hot iron rained down and incapacitated the artilleries.

While the exchange of fire continued, Akamaru slipped into the harbor and found all the ships sleeping with a skeleton crew. There were a stream of light coming from the brightly lit corporate headquarters from the lanterns of the crew trying to head to their ships. Some were just making it to the water bank when a muzzle flare reflected across the water only 50 yards off the end of the dock. Small flashes of light from the swivels glittered across the water, taking out rudders while the large caliber canons took out the weak wooden planks making up the dock. Shikamaru was close enough to the enemy that he could make out some of the faces as they were lit by the lanterns held in the air by the angry men.

Out of nowhere, two massive balls of fire launched up at almost the same time from the two artilleries as the remaining gun powder were ignited in their cache. The smoking hulks of iron and wood continued to burn, adding an eerie light to the harbor as the two pirate ships headed deeper into the bay.

High up on the hill there were groups of men wheeling ten large caliber, long barreled canons into position. Anchoring the mobile devices to the ground, the first five opened with a bright flare. Four of the five completely missed the incoming ships, but the fifth tore through the center of the foremast of the Kyuubi.

"Return Fire!" All three ships were in range of the hill, resulting in 60 projectiles flying in their direction. The attackers could only look up and pray for a quick end. Clods of dirt flew into the air as the 30 pound pieces of iron struck the ground. Bodies were hurled through the sky in every different direction including a portion of those shouting on the bank. Silence quickly fell on the harbor as the canons stopped their attack, replaced by distant cries of pain from their enemies.

There were a few buildings on the edge of the port city that were lost to collateral damage, but all in all the port was spared the brunt of the attack as was planned. The crews of the two larger ships spilled out into their landing crafts and headed for shore while the mostly empty ships were guarded by the Akamaru. The long row boats quickly made it to shore where many of the offending crew members surrendered, making it even easier to head up the hill towards the headquarters.

The resistance was light while Naruto led the way, cutting down many an enemy with his curved bladed cutlass. Sasuke followed right behind the blonde, cutting down ones missed and stopped right by his side. The two looked at the large wooden door standing in front of them before the both landed a kick, opening the door. Inside the large warehouse, there stood 10 men guarding a weird looking short man with crazy little round sunglasses.

"You must be Gato. Surrender your valuables!" Naruto commanded while pointing his sword in the general direction of the man.

"Are you kidding?! Fuck you!" He replied and shoved the two men directly in front of him towards the assault team. Naruto and Sasuke pulled back their swords and started making short work of the bodyguards. They weren't trained bodyguards in any way and were basically farmers with swords. After the first six were dispatched the other 4 dropped their swords and surrendered.

"You… you can't have my fortune!" Gato's shaky hands reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a flint lock pistol. His aim was shaky while pointing it directly at the blonde.

"See, see! This is what you're facing against me! With enough money you can even buy these from Uzumakigakure." Naruto just smiled at the guy, irritating him.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" The blonde reached into his vest and pulled out the latest design, a double barreled flintlock. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto; my ancestors founded that island." Two loud pops rang out, one from Naruto's gun and the other from Gato's. The smoke rose in the air and Gato dropped to the ground, clutching his chest.

"Boy am I glad he was a bad shot." Naruto commented to Sasuke with a grin. There was a small ball embedded into the ground just a few inches from his feet, missing him completely.

"Naruto… you're stupid." Sasuke grunted and fastened his sword to his waist.

"Aye… that I am."

The two were soon joined by a few more of their crewmates and they started rummaging through the warehouse. They ripped open boxes and boxes, only to find nothing but plates and cups until they opened another door and saw stacks of massive boxes. There was a single one separated from the group with the lid already pried off. Naruto kicked the lid from the box and his eyes widened with a smile.

"Wow… all these howitzers. It would have been a different story had these been trained on us."

"Indeed." Sasuke agreed. The raven haired guy surveyed the new room and could make out all sorts of different weapons for ships and port defense. Finally his eyes fell on what looked like a small room overlooking the warehouse.

"Hey, up there." Naruto looked up in the direction indicated.

"Neat…" He left the box on the ground and hurried up the metal stairs with Sasuke. They opened the door and walked in to find tables of gold, gems and other valuable trinkets. The precious items glittered in the faint light cast by the lanterns lit on the wall. Naruto ran around to inspect all the different items before stashing them into a straw lined box, which they obviously came out of.

"Check this out." Sounded Sasuke's voice. The admiral turned at the distinct sound of gold doubloons clanking against each other. Sasuke had a smirk on his face while pawing through a large trunk of gold.

"Jackpot." Naruto ran to the door of the room and called up a group of guys from his ship, who were already busy trying to load up the howitzers onto the small cargo train to bring the weapons to port. With the group of eight men, including the two leaders, they brought down the score of gold and loaded it on the train as well before overseeing the remainder of loading the goods. According to the layout of the island, it would seem that the citizens of the port town were against the man, which made him build his warehouse some distance from the harbor, resulting in the makeshift train system leading to the harbor.

"Not a bad haul… Let's go get some ale." The officers of the ships then headed out, leaving the rest of the crew to unload the current cargo and head back to the warehouse for more.

* * *

The group of five headed into the port village and took in the sights. The village as a whole was starting to look run down. As it would seem, the lack of visitors to the port meant reduced income for all those living there. There were some strange looks being given out by the few villagers as they passed by which was in itself strange. No one asked about the loud explosions… it would seem that they paid no attention to it as though it was a common occurrence.

"God Damn privateers." Muttered a guy as he passed by.

Soon the group arrived at a noisy saloon. It was equally as run down as the rest of the buildings in town, but no matter how poor a village is, the bar is always a happening place. Naruto opened the door to the establishment with a loud, commanding kick, which of course garnered the attention of everyone inside. The blonde was used to all attention being on him with his usual state of dress, so it was a comfortable environment for him.

"Bar keep; I need a couple barrels of ale for my men." The man behind the counter looked pissed.

"We don't serve your kind here." Naruto looked to Shikamaru and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm sure you can work something out." He assured while throwing a good sized pouch of coins on the table. The barkeep moved to the bag and opened it, surprised at the fact that it was gold and not copper or silver coins.

"Uh… Yes sir! Right away sir."

"Good, and a pint of your finest for me and my mates."

"Of course… and where shall I deliver the ale?"

"Bring it down to the harbor; my crew will get it loaded up." The man bowed his head and quickly served up the five glasses before heading to the back to work on the barrels of ale. The bar was still silent while the five seated themselves at a thick wooden table. After a large gulp of the refreshing liquid Naruto stood up on his chair.

"If there are any experienced sailors, captains, or medics, looking to leave port; come see me. We treat our ship mates well, so don't feel shy." Satisfied with his announcement, Naruto jumped off the chair and took his seat again. The place still remained quiet while everyone continually stared at them.

"Hey barkeep!" Kakashi shouted, knowing how to take care of the tensions in the establishment. The man poked his head through the door.

"Get everyone a round on us!" The silver haired man squinted in a smile as the raucous cheering ensued, returning everyone back to a normal roar for the bar.

"Nice Kakashi-sensei."

"Hey kanchou, I was wondering, why do you call him sensei?" Shikamaru inquired.

"Oh that, well he trained me, Sasuke, and Sakura on different aspects of naval battles when we were younger. Although he never stepped foot on a ship with us, we still learned almost everything we know from him."

"I see…" Shikamaru took a large drink of his ale and sat back, relaxed. "I think that with all those weapons we found, we should outfit one of Gato's merchant ships for battle. If we load them on the lower decks and cut holes in the upper deck, we can still keep the appearance of a merchant ship but be able to launch from the hidden barrels."

"Interesting… I think that can work." Naruto jumped back up on his chair to address the bar.

"I also pay 5 gold pieces a day for a shipwright! Inquire in person tomorrow morning at the harbor." After seating himself down at the table again, the five pirates recounted the past victories with laughter and more drinking. Once having their fill, they headed back to their ships, to continue the partying with their remaining crews, and strangely enough, with nearly all of the prisoners from the pirated ships, who were hands for hire anyways and pledged their assistance to the crew of the Kyuubi instead of being set free on wave.

* * *

Morning came early and Naruto cursed while holding his head. He had really wished that he didn't partake in the party aboard, but in doing so, he knew it would keep morale high among the crew, and mutiny was always a big worry for new captains. The blonde rubbed his eyes and placed his hat back on his head with a yawn. Opening the door to his cabin, the morning sun and air flowed in, helping to awaken his body. He took a group of crew hands, who weren't hung over, and headed to shore. As they neared, they were curious as to why a large group of villagers were gathered on the bank. When the small row boat struck the beech, almost a dozen men ran into the water to help drag the boat ashore. Naruto hopped from the boat and stood before the crowd to see what was going on. One man, who looked to be a mayor or some type of leader in the way he dressed, stated to talk.

"Sir, on behalf of our entire village, we thank you for removing Gato. His company drained us of all our income to the point that we could barely live. If there is anything we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask." Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I got all the payment I needed when we looted his warehouse, so all I really need is some crew members, maybe a captain or two, and a shipwright to make modifications and repairs."

"Very well sir…" The man stepped to the side and revealed a long line of people interested in enlisting with his crew.

"Well, let's get this the interviews started." It was at this point that Shikamaru arrived with Sakura to help. Being one for organization, Shikamaru divided the applicants into rows.

"Any medics, please gather in a line to the north in front of Sakura. Naruto-kanchou will be conducting the interviews for captains and I will take the rest." The line quickly divided, and there was one man standing at the front of the line before the blonde admiral. The guy was dressed in a black leather like jacket and had unruly looking hair.

"You're here to be a captain… what is your name and why should I take you on?"

"My name is Inuzuka Kiba, My desire it to return to the sea, but more selfishly, I'd like to find who ran off with my ship."

"So your ship was stolen from you? If you can't protect your own, why should I let you run one of mine?" Naruto asked, knowing how terrible it would be to lose your ship.

"It was… I was too trusting of my crew, they mutinied and set sail while I was ashore. I found out later that they were paid off by Gato and they started using my ship to steal from other merchants."

"Well, I guess it can happen… You may just have had bad judgment in the people you trust… What size ship do you prefer and how many years of experience do you have in captaining one?"

"My specialty is with a ship like my own, a tri mast battle sloop. I've been sailing on that ship since I was only 12, which makes it about 15 years now."

"Thank you… I will inform everyone of my decisions when I reach the end…. Next!" Naruto went through the rest of the line for captain and found no other person worthwhile until a burly man showed up. He had a black bandana tied around his head and a fully grown black beard when he got to the front of the line, he was staring at Shikamaru strangely. The blonde looked on, puzzled before whistling, getting the attention of the strategist.

"Asuma-sensei?" That was when the large man smiled and started laughing.

"Shika my boy, I see my teachings have served you well."

"Maybe, but I'm still not cut out for captaining." He then turned to Naruto. "If you will accept a selfish request… I would ask that you let Asuma-sensei be a captain, he is almost over qualified."

"Well, if it is you who's asking… then I will grant it." Naruto stood up and looked at the group applying to be captain.

"Sarutobi Asuma and Inuzuka Kiba, you are my captains. The rest of you, I thank you for your interest, if you would still like to sail from here, feel free to apply for the general crew. Thank you for your time." With his decisions made, Naruto left the new captains to assist Shikamaru with the crew selections and headed towards Sakura where she was happily chatting with two women. One was a long blonde haired woman about the same age as his medic and the other had dark hair and was just a tad older than the other two.

"More women?" Naruto asked as he approached, not sure how well that idea would work out.

"Of course, I need others to watch my back. These two are Ino and Shizune, they both studied at the same school of medicine as I did. We were comparing medical stories."

"Well, good to meet you, I am Uzumaki Naruto, I am the leader of our small fleet. Welcome. I will be setting out with our new captains in a few minutes, I suggest you guys come along and get acquainted with the ships." The group of women stood up and followed the blonde back to where Shikamaru was located. He was currently talking with this old guy who seemed to be drunk off his ass.

"Hey Naruto-kanchou… This is Tazuna. He's a shipwright and carpenter who comes highly recommended by everyone I talk to."

"Is that so… So tell me, how would you go about functionally hiding 40 howitzers on a frigate class merchant ship?... Eh… Hypothetically speaking"

"You want to shoot through the deck, yes?" With a nod Tazuna continued. "Well, making windows in the deck to shoot out of is the easy part, but its mounting them to the lower deck so they don't go all over the place with the movement of the sea; that could be tricky. You'd want to be able to swivel the barrel so you can shoot in any direction and not just to one side, this will allow you to concentrate all the weapons on one point and not have to divide them between sides like a usual broadside setup. I can create a swivel system to rotate them, it shouldn't be that different from the town's wheat grinder."

"Good thought… You're hired. Grab a few workers and replace the docks and then we can get started." With all the selections and preparations complete, the long boats were loaded with the crew members and they were rowing through the large open waters.

"So where is my ship?" Kiba inquired energetically.

"Right up ahead, it is right behind 'Kyuubi'." The guy seemed quite eager to return to the sea, but his excitement doubled when the small sloop came into view.

"No fucking way! Akamaru!" He almost had tears welling up in his eyes when he laid eyes on his stolen ship. He quickly was able to identify the modifications made to it and had to admit that he liked the addition of the swivel guns on deck.

"So that was yours? Didn't get much from the guy before I made him walk the plank. We jacked that one and the frigate from the same captain."

"Nice… Just so you know, this means a lot to me to be able to run with Akamaru again. It will be a pleasure to serve with you."

"Good to hear, Keep it together and we'll be set."

* * *

A solid month has passed since the siege on Wave Isle. The fleet of four ships were finally ready to depart now that all the repairs and modifications were accomplished. They each were outfitted with red sails to match the color of the nine massive sails of the Kyuubi and looked like they belonged together. All the officers of the fleet were on the dock, ready to board their ships when Inari, the grandson of the shipwright ran out to them.

"My mom wanted you guys to have these." In his hands were a large stack of red fabric. Upon opening one of them, Naruto smiled.

"Thanks, tell Tsunami that we appreciate them." He set the fabric stack in the long boat before jumping in with the rest of the crew. Knowing that they were supposed to be pirates, Naruto decided not to look back and wave as they left, it was hard after all the time they spent together, but felt that he needed to embrace the mindset of a pirate again. Once on board their respective ships, Naruto stood proud atop the quarterdeck and looked out at his red sailed fleet.

"Cast off and set sail." The mooring cables were brought in and the sails dropped, revealing the large colored surface.

"Raise our jolly roger!" Naruto commanded. The red fabric crafted by Tsunami rose to the top of the main masts on all four ships revealing a black skull and cross bones on red background. It was an unusual sight, but a fitting match for the red sails.

* * *

...Later


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

One week after leaving the port of Wave Isle, the small fleet approached a massive island to resupply. This island was surrounded by a sharp mountainous ridge with two giant cracks in its flawless outer shell. As they moved closer the sheer size of the walls became even more apparent, towering at least 5 times higher than the masts of the Kyuubi.

"Bring in the sails; we'll ride the current in." With the sails tucked away, the ships entered the lightly lit tunnel in a single file line. The outer shell was an impenetrable, mile thick protective shield around the entire land mass. The fleet soon reached the end of the tunnel and were soon in awe at the spectacle before them.

"So this is Iwagakure no kikou (Port hidden in the Rock)." Inside of the protective barrier lay a lush land exploding with life. Birds were soaring overhead and the trees waved in the breeze; there was even a large waterfall rushing behind it all adding to its beauty. It was so picturesque, something only a painter could imagine after ingesting a hallucinogenic drug.

Almost an hour passed from the time they entered the tunnel to the point where the harbor came into view. There were at least 150 ships currently docked and you could see scads of people running about the island; clearly the place to be to plan the next mission.

Xxxxx

Iwa was the largest port city which openly allows pirates to freely come and go through their port. With this allowance, they have become an even bigger hub for contraband than Uzumakigakure. The increased size and safety of its waters are what brought this booming city most of its gold from merchants and pirates alike.

'Kyuubi', 'Susanoo', 'Akamaru' and 'Mistress Kurenai', named after Asuma's late wife, threw out their mooring cables and were securely strapped to the massive dock. Naruto breathed in the sweet scent of the clean, fruit infused air and let it all out in a sigh.

"Alright men, we all drew lots before arriving. Those that drew evens will get second shift for shore leave. The officers will be out all day to plan our next raid. Stick with us and we'll all be set for life." Cheers rang out from the men onboard from both the disembarking crew and those staying aboard. Although those with the second shift had to wait for their turn, they would get the increased enjoyment of hitting the nightlife of the city. Once all the crew hands were on shore, the officers met on the dock to have a discussion. Kiba, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Asuma, Kakashi, Choji, Sakura, Ino, and Shizune Were all huddled together.

"Today's mission…" Naruto started in a hushed voice. "Is to gather intelligence. We need to find our next lucrative target. We need something similar to hitting Gato; lots of cash and little damage to the villagers.

"Hey, that's great and all, but there aren't too many opportunities like that. Maybe we can go old school and loot a whole village." Kiba suggested.

"I don't know…" Naruto was apprehensive, he didn't want to steal all of a person's belongings and then find out they couldn't buy food and went hungry.

"Well, maybe if we find one of those really fancy villages we can take all their currency and leave them their houses and their belongings. Then we could get loaded and not have to worry about whether or not they could survive." Ino offered.

"You may have a point." Naruto relented. "…But that would be low on the list. Best scenario is another corrupt corporation, if you can't find any good info on them, then we can look into rich villages. Also, I'd like us to be on the lookout for something to combat that mist crap Zabuza pulled on us; we may stumble across more pirates from there, and we barely made it out of the last one alive. Get two or three pieces of intelligence and meet back in the bar by nightfall."

"Hey Naruto-kanchou?" Sakura cooed flirtatiously.

"No need to flaunt yourself Sakura-chan, two apiece, minimum, then you can do what you want."

"Really? Alright girls, this will be easy." She shouted and headed into the city.

* * *

The hours passed and it was now time to meet back up. Naruto entered the saloon first and reserved a large table in the far corner of the establishment for privacy. Within the first 5 minutes, all but the girls had arrived and were gulping down some refreshing ale.

"Well, I guess we can start, Shikamaru, you take down all the details so we can analyze the information and hopefully by the time we've gotten ours straightened out, the women will be back." Shikamaru nodded and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and started taking down the pieces of information. About halfway though, the women entered and plopped down with a satisfied sigh.

"Man, we would have been here on time, but the shopping was so good, that we had to drop off our bags at the ship before coming in." Sakura chirped happily.

"We only want the information Sakura-chan."

"Yeah fine." Sakura slapped down a sheet of paper with all three of the women's findings on it, listed by name, before she stood up again.

"We decided to head for the hot springs for a bath, so… See ya." The three women filed back out of the bar as quickly as they entered, leaving the men of the group to determine the next destination.

"Ok, so let's throw out any information that doesn't jive with the rest. What do we have?" Shikamaru shuffled through the data and came up with three locations for targets.

"First option is to raid a mining corporation located on Stone Island, strictly a mining port, very few villagers. They have been basically enslaving their workers by coercing them into signing work contracts, then forcing them to pay rent for all their equipment. In the end, most of the workers end up owing money to the company instead of the other way around."

"Second, there is a super-rich clan who are in possession of a _jewel_ that only appears once in every two centuries. Said to be priceless. It was rumored to have been stolen once already, landing it in the current owners. Word on the street is that there will soon be an auction and they're expecting this rare item to go for 100 pounds of gold or more. The downside is that there is not a proper port on that side of the mountain, just a small fishing dock."

"Lastly in a salvage mission. There was a ship that went down just outside of Kiri. Rumored to be very valuable."

"My first instinct says the first one." Naruto commented. "But I also hate clans, they all suck."

"I say we plunder the clan." Sasuke added, clearly wanting to prevent a reenactment of his clan being destroyed by one from the inside when the group became too full of themselves.

"You know…" Shikamaru pulled out his map once more and pointed to two islands. "Ishi is only a day's journey away from the 'Village on the Sand' on the north side of Wind Island. If we hit the mining facility and sustain little damage, we can head straight over to Wind Island and hit the village. Once we hit them, we should probably make ourselves scarce since Sunagakura no kikou will be on alert and we don't really want to face their Gaara and his Armada."

"You really think we can hit both?" Naruto pondered… You could tell he was really thinking about it.

"I like it." Sasuke mumbled.

"You think we can take a few wenches while we're at it?" Kiba asked.

"Of course not, we're not into kidnapping women; that is deplorable. Now what we can do is when we divide the booty, you can feel free to buy a few nights with a lady, at least then we are helping sustain jobs." Asuma reminded.

"Can we raid their ice box?" Choji asked while munching on the complimentary peanuts.

"Eh, sure… Take all you can carry." Choji was one of the easiest persons to deal with on the ship. He stayed quiet and you would forget he was even there if it wasn't for the occasional food comment. It was also easy with his one track mind; as long as his stomach was full, he was content.

"Are we in agreement then?" Naruto looked around and saw no sign to the contrary so he nodded and slammed his fist on the table.

"That settles it. Let's rest up for the next couple days to resupply and set sail for Ishi, then the Village in the sand." With the next destination settled, all that was left was to enjoy the city until it was time to depart.

* * *

It took nearly 3 hours for the current flowing through Iwa to carry the red sailed fleet back out into the open waters. They left behind a city most would have deemed perfect for the adventures of the open sea and no one even thought how strange that was. They have all experienced the life and freedom of being a pirate and couldn't imagine going back so early in their adventure.

A strong steady wind soon filled the large red sails and pushed the fleet away from the island at full speed. Surprisingly the waters were calm and they were making excellent time. Unfortunately, though, the weather on the sea can be more unpredictable than roulette.

xxxx

By the fourth day of travel, they could see dark black clouds chasing them from behind, riding on the same air current as they were. Even though they were on the same current, it was easy to see that it would catch up to them in just a matter of hours, and to make matters worse; the sun was setting as well. As the darkness fell, you could see the bright bolts of lightning in the storm behind them, but up in front was a slowly rotating light from the Ishi lighthouse… They had arrived.

"Alright men, this is how this one will work, when we dock, secure the ships with double, maybe even three times the amount of rope. We need the ships secure to weather the storm. Hopefully the cove will be enough to keep the big waves at bay. Now once that is done, we're taking the main building while they are hunkering down, then we'll wait out the storm and head out in the morning. Got it?"

"Aye Sir!"

The Kyuubi led the way into the cove. There were no defenses, no sign of any thing designed to resist invasion, the island was practically being served up on a silver platter. The only signs of life were the three warships tied loosely in the harbor. The ships were quickly docked and the crews quietly headed in land. There were quite a few grass roofed houses, where the workers probably stayed, lining the road up to a large sturdy building. With the storm coming and the wind picking up, you could tell the grass huts weren't going to hold together long. When they got closer to the large building, there were three guys struggling with a heavy chest and couldn't get it through the door.

"Come on, put your back into it." Shouted one of the struggling men. Naruto got a mischievous smile on his face and ran in.

"I'll get this end." He grunted while picking up the dragging end.

"'bout time!" Grumbled the man's exasperated voice. With the chest hoisted in the air, the four of them easily carried the heavy object into the warehouse and placed it on the ground.

"Whew, you sure came at the right time." The man commented, then actually looked at the orange clad pirate. He was of course grinning while looking down the barrel of his pistol; motioning them away from the chest.

"How many men are in here?" Naruto asked.

"Uh, it's mostly a skeleton operation. The workers think we have guards up here, but it is really just us. Please spare us." The men begged.

"I suppose we could." He threw a length of rope towards them.

"Tie yourself up and if you are still alive by morning, we will set you free." They looked up with a puzzled look until Naruto turned to Kiba.

"Take some men and get all the workers out of their huts and bring them here, those houses won't last long in this storm; its going to be a big one."

"I'm on it!"

* * *

A loud crack of thunder boomed and echoed through the large building followed by a drove of workers plowing through the small door. Upon entering, their fear subsided as they looked at the large warehouse with no guards, just the three merchants. All the coal and rare metals the men mined were piled up in the warehouse; enough value was stashed away in that building to buy a small island.

"Come on in boys!" Naruto greeted. "I know you guys are upset, but after the storm passes, and of course a moderate fee, we will head out again. You will all be free to do as you please once we leave. There will be a ship waiting for you, so feel free to load it with whatever and go."

After the short speech, the workers grumbled and headed for a corner of the dry building and set up their bedrolls for the night. While they were tucked away and sleeping, the storm was raging outside, pulling and tearing at the sturdy building. Not being able to sleep because of the racket, Naruto set out to explore the building some more. Piles of bauxite, coal, and even some iron ore were separated and stowed away in large carts, but it was the cart in the back that seemed to catch his eye.

He headed to the far corner and lifted the canvas tarp. Below the covering was three chests much like the one he helped to pull in. Curiosity got the best of him, so he cracked open one and beheld a full trunk of doubloons. It would seem as though these guys would sell off the haul and stash the proceeds back here, but why stash away that much? Just the three of them would be set for the next 3 generations… why not go home and live like a prince? Naruto closed up the chest and headed back where the crew was sleeping and soon joined them for a quick nap.

* * *

The night sky was still dark when the storm came to an abrupt end. Seeing as how the danger was over, Naruto quietly woke his crew and set them to work loading the most valuable of the cargo. They would leave just enough for the workers to have quite the nest egg upon their return home, but anything beyond that was theirs for the taking. The large warehouse door noisily slid to the side right as the sun was starting to spread its light across the sea. The racket they made woke the workers and brought them stampeding towards them.

"Like I told you guys… We've got what we came for, the rest is yours, including those three."

"Wait you don't know what you're doing!" Protested one of the tied up men, knowing their safety was now in question.

"Don't care! Onward men!" The crews of the red sailed fleet headed down the road, dragging along the cart of riches. When arriving at the harbor, they let out a sigh when they saw the ships were still completely unharmed.

"Let's get this loot loaded, I don't think those three were doing this on their own. I'd like to be long gone by the time someone comes a looking." Within 30 minutes all the loot was aboard the Kyuubi. After the two hauls, they had more than enough riches to supply their fleet for probably 10 years. Naruto was leaning back in his chair once more when a solemn look washed across his face. He opened the desk drawer and started going through an old leather bound journal. He let out a breath of air and shoved it back into the drawer.

"Just need a few more things… Then the real mission can start." He stood up and headed out the door to the wonderful sight of all his crew hands rushing to their stations.

"Bring in the lines! We head to Wind Island!" A gust of wind finally came from the correct angle and the bright red sails dropped, filling out to move the naval vessels forward.

* * *

The mine workers kept the three merchants tied up and threw them onto one of the remaining ships in the harbor before loading the hold down with the goods from the warehouse. The work was hard, but with each ton of goods loaded, their burden seemed to have been lifted. Five hours had passed and they were whistling a tune as they closed up the hatch after the last of the goods were loaded. They were bringing in the mooring cables when they saw a small dinghy rowing in from seemingly nowhere. Being a fearing group, they ignore it and quickly set sail. The ship was cruising away at full speed now, but what really bothered the makeshift crew was that the dinghy was still gaining on them until it completely disappeared.

"Where is it!?" Shouted a gruff voice as the three prisoners crashed up through the hatch to the brig. Following behind him was a strange looking man. His pale blue scaly skin looked like something from another world.

"It was stolen… The war chest is gone!" Shouted the leader of the mining operation.

"Who?" Growled the man while giving the man's neck a squeeze.

"Pirates… w… with red sails."

"Heh… first Gato, now you?" The man threw the leader on the ground and leapt off the starboard side of the ship, landing back in his dinghy and started rowing away at a quick pace.

"What was that all about?" one of the workers wondered, but the question was soon answered when ten large ships seemed to appear suddenly. The large sails on them all were black except for bright red clouds. Billows of smoke rose from each ship indicating their canons were just fired. Cascading water splashes shot upwards around the merchant ship until the iron balls started crashing down through the decking and hull of the ship. People were shouting and diving off the side of the ship while it was pummeled. A loud crack shot out when a 42lb cannonball pierced through the side of the ship, just below the water line, causing the sea to flood the hold. Within 5 minutes the ship was headed to the bottom of the ocean with all its natural resources and countless bodies; courtesy of the Akatsuki.

* * *

Night had fallen once again aboard the Kyuubi and her fleet. The winds were dead still, leaving them to rely on only the light current headed towards Wind Island. The three larger ships were lashed together like usual so everyone could head down to the mess hall on board the Kyuubi.

"Hey Choji, what's on the menu today?" Naruto asked as he met up with his quiet friend.

"We've got some ramen tonight. There was a guy we picked up in wave who has quite the knack for it. He calls it his famous Ichiraku's Ramen. And to tell you the truth… it's pretty darn good."

"Really? Then I guess I should get some before it's gone." After going through the line, he plunked down with the rest of his officers from the fleet and started in on eating. He had to agree with Choji, it was the best ramen he'd ever eaten. When he finished off his third bowl, they started to talk about the upcoming pillage.

"So what are you guys thinking? Should we go for a frontal attack, or sneak in to locate our gem first?" Naruto asked while working on his fourth bowl of ramen.

"I vote for loud and fast, just how I like my sex." Kiba stated with a perverted grin.

"Kiba!" He was, of course, struck with a chorus of fists from the women.

"I can make both work." Sasuke admitted without having a desire one way or another.

"And I say we should get the lay of the land first by sneaking in and sizing up the place." Shikamaru mentioned.

"How about you two, Asuma, Kakashi?"

"I would prefer to stay with Kuranai. I'm not much for fighting these days."

"I'll sit this one out as well; you guys are the new generation, it's all you."

"OK… well that means I'm the tie breaker. The medics will stay on board since we can't afford to lose them so… I think we should sneak in. It could be fun to try and not draw attention." The last comment elicited a group of stifled laughs.

"Well, if we are going for that plan… Let's load up the landing party aboard the Akamaru and pose as cartographers." The strategist suggested

"Uh…" The blonde's dumbfounded look was just as expected.

"Map makers Naruto… We will pretend we make maps."

"Oh, then why didn't you say so?" Shikamaru shook his head.

"Anyways, we land for a day or two while the rest of the fleet lies in wait out of sight from the village. Once we determine the location of what we want, we take it and head back to the Akamaru. If we run into problems we will light up the town and you guys come in with canons blazing."

"Sure, sounds good. We will go with that plan and we'll wing it along the way." Their leader confirmed.

* * *

After the meal was over, the fleet dropped anchor just barely inside the view of the faint flickering light of the village's light house. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kiba boarded 'Akamaru' and readied themselves for the infiltration.

"Alright! Let's go Akamaru!" Kiba detached from the anchored fleet and dropped the sails of his small ship. Even though there was next to no breeze, the smaller ship was able to get just enough of one to speed it faster along the oceans current.

"We should wait to act until there is a stronger wind so our reinforcements can arrive faster. If this dead wind keeps up it would take far too long for them to show up." Shikamaru suggested

"I agree, but we can't predict the unknown." Naruto replied.

"True, so true."

The small sloop started nudging closer and closer. They took down the Jolly Roger and raised a simple white flag to advert suspicion. The slight change will add a little more authenticity to their story and help prolong their stay. The ship sailed into the tiny cove and barely made it to the dock before it started to run aground in the shallow waters

"Alright guys… I'll see you around after we figure out what this item is." The four men spread out from the shore and headed inland. Naruto learned early in his training with Kakashi that a village's secrets are always able to be spilled over a tall lager. At that late hour, it was always easy to spot the saloon by it being one of the few places with the lights on. Stepping through the door, we was greeted by a few looks from the drunken men inside, but it wasn't like they could tell who he was anyways. He took a seat at the bar and ordered a pint.

"Here ya go. I see you're new here… are you here for the auction?" Asked the bartender.

"Actually no…" He paused and took a drink of his ale to wet his throat before continuing. "I'm actually part of a mapmaking expedition and we landed here to get our legs back after the storm last night."

"Ah yes, that was a nasty storm."

"Indeed it was. But now you have me a bit intrigued with this auction… Is it open to anyone?"

"If you have the funds for the buy in, but then if you had that you wouldn't be kicking back such cheap ale."

"Aye, that be quite true." After another wetting drink he took up the conversation where he left off.

"Is there anything that may be there of worth to mapmakers? A few of my companions might have the buy in."

"Eh, not sure. They will be having a viewing of the goods tomorrow morning before the buy in, then you can see for yourself."

"Hmm, well, we just may do that before heading out to sea again; might be interesting." Naruto took another drink, emptying his cup and set it on the bar.

"Want another?"

"Yeah, why not?"

* * *

The next morning, Naruto found himself waking up in the middle a grassy park. His head ached while he tried to remember how he got there, then remembered the extra drinks at the bar. The hangover was killer but after it dulled a little, his senses returned while pulling himself to his feet. Looking around the park, he noted the location of the sea to the north and realized where he was. There was a strange commotion to the south, so without a better idea he headed towards the sound.

Rounding the corner of a large building, there was a mass of people circling tables of glass encased items. As luck would have it, Naruto found the viewing for the auction without even trying to. The viewers were from all different walks of life. Some were fat, others were old, and most were both. He stepped closer to the tables and tried to catch a glimpse of some of the objects until he started feeling nauseated. He quickly looked around and found a bench to sit in, although there was a problem; an elegantly dressed woman was sitting on the only bench in the area. In a normal situation he would avoid making contact, but the sickness wouldn't pass so quickly. He resigned himself to the fate and sat upon the bench next to her.

"You shouldn't sit here." Whispered a tiny voice to his side. Her voice held a gentle sparkle, but seemed dulled somehow.

"I'm not feeling too well… It'll just be a moment." He replied with his head down in his hands.

"but you…" She turned her head from facing forward and stopped after just a glance. There was something different about the guy but she quickly turned back front. "Fine, you can sit here… just don't blame me for what happens."

"Yeah, thanks." He looked up and forced a smile. Her head wandered down and caught a glimpse of his awkward smile, blushing when she saw that grin. Her eye darted back to front while she nervously tapped her fingers together.

"Um… Are you here for the auction?" Naruto asked to make polite conversation and tried to physically overcome the throbbing pain in his head.

"You could say that." She replied with a saddened face. "Is there something here you want?" She wondered out loud.

"I was looking into that priceless jewel said to shine like a sun; or was it a jewel that looked best in a sunny place?" The girl giggled, the cute look on her face was stunning, and it started to draw attention to her from the crowd.

"Did you see that smile!?" One of the fat millionaires commented to another.

"Just… just gorgeous!" He replied

"I… I think it is time for you to go." The young woman urged, noting the attention being drawn. She was still talking in her ultra-quiet voice but he could tell there was a sense of urgency behind it.

"OK." Naruto stood up and looked back at her. A light breeze came across and blew her dark bluish hued hair out of her face, revealing a set of lavender tinted eyes, without distinguishable pupils. Her cheeks were colored with a hint of pink and she gently smiled at him when he locked eyes with her.

"What's your name?" The girl looked shocked and her index finger curled up to her bottom lip.

"Sorry I shouldn't have asked." Naruto muttered; he turned back and started walking away when there was a loud female voice behind him.

"Hinata." His head turned back and he saw her face redden to a deep scarlet. She let her gaze drop to the ground shyly.

"It's Hinata." She muttered quietly. She then looked up at the crowd and realized she was being stared at and quickly returned to the blank stare she wore when Naruto arrived.

"That girl is… weird… but attractive." Naruto mumbled. He glanced through some more items at the showing, and took one more glance back at the young woman, before his spinning head forced him to retreat back to the Akamaru for a nap to relieve him of his hang over.

* * *

...Later


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

"Hey, idiot…" A loud smack sounded, followed by an unhappy groan. "Wake up!" This time Naruto felt a kick to the side and rolled to his feet.

"Hey! Don't kick your captain." He barked. Luckily for him, the headache was just a faint memory now, making it easier to wake up and stand correctly.

"I've been kicking you for years, and it won't stop." Sasuke commented with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, yeah… Did you guys find out anything?"

"Hn…"

"Well, that's a no from Sasuke… How about you guys?" The blond interpreted.

"I followed a few leads, but it was impossible to come up with where the jewel was hidden. All that I really managed to find out is that the auction to sell it is tonight." Shikamaru informed.

"Yeah, I got that too… Kiba, anything?"

"Not really, the hot women here are all married." He replied

"Not that, about the jewel." Naruto corrected while punching the man.

"Oh, that… No one I talked to knew anything about a priceless gem. Are you sure it will be auctioned?"

"That's the word on the street, but I didn't see any gem either at the pre-auction showcase." He revealed.

"Were there any hot chicks?" Kiba asked… talk about a one track mind.

"Mostly old fat guys, but there was one person there who was awfully enticing." The blonde recalled with a smile spreading across his face.

"Really now?"

"Yeah, now forget about that… Grab some cash, we need a buy in to take part in the auction. When we find what we are looking for, we'll steal it, and all the entry fees… We'll make a killing." Naruto declared with a grin.

"You think it is that easy?" Shikamaru wondered while devising a new plan.

"Nope, but luck is on our side today. I'm sure it'll go just fine."

"Overconfident as ever." Sasuke scoffed, but followed the other three towards the auction house.

* * *

"Good evening, and welcome to the Amagiri Clan's auction, we have so many different items up for bid today including our very special Jewel of Light, so open your pocket books wide, she'll go for an amazing price…. Our first item: A brilliant gold statue depicting an artist's take on what the legendary gambler, Tsunade looks like… In the nude of course… Starting bid: 5 pounds of gold."

The auction continued on with a tremendous amount of gold being paid out for the different rare items. A few of the old men had already packed up and left after not winning the few items they were after. Shikamaru was analyzing the possible locations for the safe where the goods were kept based on the movements of the auction handlers after receiving their payments from the winners. At that moment, Naruto was puzzled when he saw that young woman from earlier, standing at the side of the stage.

"What's Hinata doing up there?" He wondered out loud.

"Wait, what did you say?" Shikamaru asked with a sudden interest.

"Hinata? She's that girl I was talking about."

"You moron!" Sasuke shouted and smacked the blonde upside the head.

"Hinata means 'Sunny place' or 'in the sun'." Shikamaru informed. "The Jewel of Light, the gem filled with sunlight, it's all the same thing. We've been looking for a 'what' when it was a 'who' all along."

"Wait, so you mean!?" Naruto started in an astonished voice. Sasuke and Shikamaru were nodding happily now that he finally got it.

"You mean she has the jewel with her?" That earned another smack by Sasuke.

"No you moron, that girl **_is_** the jewel. The information we got was slightly distorted."

"Oh… W… Wait so you mean she's being sold?" Naruto managed to duck under the following smack since it was very obvious that was what was going on. Had he not been hung-over, or an idiot, he would have figured that out by the lot number attached to the bench she was sitting on earlier.

"SOLD! To the man with the monocle… Now then, to the main event, we have our precious jewel." A person, looking like a security guard, pushed the young woman forward and into the spotlight. "She is a rare find, known to have an unusual power that has yet to be unlocked. To the right person she could be a force of overwhelming power, but at the very least, she will make a most glorious trophy. This maiden will have a starting bid of 100 pounds of gold."

The bidding started and the price quickly rose past 150 pounds of gold and then to 175. Steadily it continued to climb as she looked down at her feet. The auctioneer motioned to the guard who came out and forcefully lifted her face so the crowd could see her better.

"195 pounds of gold… Can I see two hundred?"

"300 pounds of gold!" Shouted a voice. All members of the auction were now looking at an orange clad, blonde haired man, who was now cringing from a punch to the side from the raven haired man to his left. Hinata's eyes suddenly darted up and saw the man grinning towards her. The heat rushed to her face and colored her cheeks a rosy red, causing her to look away shyly.

"3… 350!" Shouted another man after seeing how cutely she was smiling.

"375!... 400! 450!" Shouted a choir of other men now in the fray.

"Crap, this isn't going our way." Naruto admitted. "Back me up guys." He pushed past Sasuke and headed into the aisle and ran towards the front of the auction house. His crew mate grumbled and followed his lead. The giddy auctioneer didn't see him coming down the aisle in his greedy blindness until the blonde was landing on the stage.

"I bid… Your Life." In an instant, he pulled a short knife from his boot and slipped the sharp blade under the man's neck. "Sounds like a deal doesn't it?" He whispered to the man.

"Actually…" The man muttered and the stage became crowded with five guards with guns at the ready. "I think a counter offer of _your _life sounds good."

Naruto saw the smile on Hinata's face drop when he let go of the blade and it clanked on the ground. The man smiled triumphantly as he leaned forward and picked up the blade. Naruto stood helplessly as the man came around behind him and brought the blade up towards his neck. Seeing this, Hinata looked away, knowing what came next.

BANG! A loud shot echoed through the auction hall, causing everyone to jump, hoping to find the location of the blast. Hinata turned back and saw a bright smile on the blonde's face as the blade fell from only inches away from his neck. His right hand was placed just inside his black vest, holding the grip of his flintlock pistol. The man behind him slipped to the ground while he pulled the gun from its hiding spot and pointed it at the guard standing behind Hinata.

"Why didn't you tell me you were being sold? I would have freed you then." He playfully scolded.

"I… I thought you knew." She replied in her sweet, soft voice. Just as he was about to reply, a thunderous explosion rocked the auction house. Pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground and the audience started to panic.

"Don't know what that is, but we gotta go!" Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her off the side of the stage, in the direction his crew went. He ran down the hall as fast as he could go when there was a shriek and he felt Hinata's hand tighten. He looked behind him and saw a guard holding her arm until he was persuaded to let go with a puff of smoke and a projectile to the cranium.

"Keep moving!" He shouted and pulled. She didn't even have time to think and was pulled along as more explosions thundered inside the building. She looked back up ahead and saw another guard blocking the back exit with a musket rifle pointed at them. They kept running right at the man as a shot sounded with a cloud of smoke and the guard fell to the ground. Stepping out from around the corner was Sasuke, holding a smoldering gun.

"Let's Go!" Naruto shouted and leapt over the guy and out into the door into the village with Hinata in tow. When they spilled out into the street, everyone from the auction was running in random directions as explosions sent piles of earth soaring into the air. Sasuke then ran up to Naruto's left side and Shikamaru did the same on the right. They were both carrying large bags of loot from the auction and fell into a synchronous run with the blonde.

"Is Kiba getting ready?"

"Yes, he took off the moment you ran up."

"Good, any idea who is attacking?"

"No, but the positive side is that they are coming from the desert side of the Island." The four people continued running and dodging falling debris as they made their way to the north of the island. Once they set foot on the dock, Naruto stopped to catch his breath. And let go of the woman's hand.

"You're free now… you can do what you want." She nodded with a bright smile.

"Thank you. But where do I go?" She looked back towards the village that was now burning in the darkened night sky, then back towards the blonde.

"If you want…" Naruto smiled and held out his hand. "You could always come with me." He offered. Hinata looked down at his hand when another explosion rang out, causing her to jump and grab his arm instead.

"Well, maybe… just for a little while." She reasoned and stepped aboard the Akamaru.

They pulled in the mooring ropes and shoved off from the small dock. When they were turned about, they set sail and moved away from the island. Flashes of light from canon fire shot outward from the shore line towards their small ship, skimming by the hull.

"Why are they shooting at us, and who are they?"

"I… I think they are from Sunagakure." Hinata informed. "They have attempted to capture me before, but this time they brought their land ship, 'Shukaku' the sand demon. I heard the men talk about it, which was why they were so eager to sell me today."

"Great… We're like sitting ducks in this ship." Naruto cursed.

"Should we return fire?" Kiba wondered.

"No." Shikamaru answered. "They're firing blind, if we show them a muzzle flare, they will know where we are at. Another salvo of cannon projectiles floated overhead, one just catching the railing at the aft of the ship and knocking one of the swivel guns into the sea behind them.

"Damn, what is the range on those?" Naruto shouted. He looked over at Hinata and saw a scared look on her face. She was looking out into the dark sea and raised a shaky finger just off to the starboard side.

"Hinata? What is it?"

"P… Pirates. There is a huge pirate ship up ahead… no three of them. Maybe a frigate, a merchant ship and a strange, scary galleon."

"Where? How?" Naruto asked wondering just how she knew in the blackness of the night.

"I… I can see very well in the dark. Sometimes I can even see through certain objects."

"Really…?" Naruto looked in the direction and squinted, there wasn't much he could see in the moonless night. "Well, let's hope you're right… Kiba! Take us starboard!"

"Aye." He cranked the wheel and the ship turned with a creak. Another set of cannons arrived at the edge of the shore and started firing in conjunction with the sand demon.

"We're going to die!" Hinata shrieked and crouched on the deck. They were now close enough to the large pirate ships that you could hear the water running up underneath it and sloshing against the hull.

"Naruto-kanchou!" Called out a voice, just barely loud enough to make it over the sound of rushing water.

"Return Fire!" Naruto shouted back. A massive series of booms rang out as thousands of pounds of iron projectiles were hurtled back at the island; effectively forcing the land based units to fall back against such overwhelming firepower from the sea. The naval vessels had the land units out ranged and were safe at their current distance.

"Naruto?" Sounded Hinata's voice while looking at the blonde in wonder. He turned at the sound of his name and looked into her eyes.

"What? Did I forget something?" He asked.

"No its… I didn't know your name."

"Ah man… I forgot to introduce myself? Well, I guess that wasn't so smooth of me, but… I am Uzumaki Naruto." He bows in his best 'gentlemanly' way. "A pirate and captain of the 'Kyuubi' and this is my fleet." He finished with a proud gesture to the mass of ships floating by.

"Oh…" She breathed. She looked up from the deck of the Akamaru and had troubles wrapping her head around the sheer size difference between the sloop and the massive galleon.

"Oh sorry… I'm Hyuuga Hinata… I'm pleased to meet you… Naruto-kun."

"The pleasure's all mine." Interrupted Kiba while he reached for her hand. He quickly found his hand being slapped away by Naruto.

"Who's steering you fool?" He scolded.

"Oh crap." The Inuzuka jumped back towards the wheel and adjusted the ship's course.

"Bring us alongside the Kyuubi." Naruto ordered. The small ship eased up near the much larger ship, just close enough so Naruto could grab the boarding line. He tied an extra loop in the line and placed Hinata's foot in it and placed her hands higher on the rope. She looked at him suspiciously until he placed his foot in the other loop, his right hand on the rope, and with his left he wrapped it tightly around Hinata's waist and held her tight to his chest.

"Bring us up!" The slack was pulled from the line and they started rising towards the deck of the ship. Within a minute, there were a set of hands reaching out to help them aboard.

"Welcome back Naruto-kanchou." Kakashi greeted before heading back to the railing and started pulling up the loot taken from the island.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Sakura asked while looking at the beautiful woman now on deck, almost in admiration.

"You could say that, but in the end; I think I found something better." He smiled at the young Hyuuga, but when she smiled back there was this strange whirring noise coming from the front of the ship.

"Kakashi?" Naruto headed towards the front of the ship, with most of his crew following, and stared at the massive main cannon. The barrel of the beast was spinning rapidly and was clearly the source of the whirring noise. Naruto knocked on the side of the stationary portion of the cannon in disbelief.

"Naruto-kun… What is that?" Hinata asked as she saw the strange object.

"Something my father left me. I've never seen it act like this though." He commented while studying the device.

"It's strange… I think I've seen something like this before." She commented while struggling to recall from her memory.

"Really? Where?"

"A book… This... this is something like what was on the 'Yondaime Hokage', the flag ship of the Fire Island's Navy. I'm sure I saw something like this, just smaller, much smaller." Naruto raised his eyebrows in interest

"Hinata? Are you not from Wind Island?" Naruto asked

"No… I'm from Konoha… the port hidden in the leaves."

"That… You're from the place who killed my father?" She looked up at him with a puzzled look.

"Namikaze Minato; he was the captain of the Yondaime Hokage when it was brought down by the very ships he swore to protect. The navy killed my father!" She looked crushed and started shaking her head.

"No its… it can't. They said he went down by Lightning Island after saving a whole fleet of Navy ships. He, he's a hero."

"You're wrong, Hinata-san." Interrupted Kakashi. "I lost my eye in that battle. The ship Minato tried saving was mine. I was the only one who got out alive.

"I… I didn't know." Hinata sniffled before burying her head in Naruto's vest. She bawled for many confusing minutes while Naruto could do nothing but hold her as she wept. Eventually her crying subsided and she pulled herself away from him

"I'm sorry its… All the members of my family are part of the navy, including my parents… and… it would mean… my… that my father took part in sinking the ship my mother was on."

"Oh… How do you feel about that?" Naruto asked. He saw something at that moment which he only ever saw in himself, a glint of anger sparked in the young woman's eyes.

"I… I want… My father… to pay." Naruto nodded and embraced the small girl.

"Then you're in luck… My true mission is the destruction of Konoha and her Navy." She nodded in his chest as the crewmembers looked on like their captain had gone crazy.

"You really intend to stand at war with a Navy? They have at least 50 ships, all at least equal in strength as 'Susanoo'." Ino muttered.

"True, but they usually only travel in teams of three. If we take them out, one team at a time, I'm sure we can take them down." Kakashi mentioned, he had the look of one who desired this war.

"Come on… you too Kakashi?" Ino asked. "What about Asuma?"

"Kurenai, his late wife was aboard as well. He only came on in hopes of following her in battle with the ones who took her." Kakashi revealed

"You… you guys are insane."

"Remember Ino…" Naruto voiced. "You are able to leave at any time, I won't force anyone. Now take Hinata down to Shizune… And Hinata… Don't hesitate to ask for anything."

"We don't get to talk anymore?" She sniffled.

"Tomorrow. Right now I'm just so… so tired." Naruto took a step forward and fell to his face.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata knelt on the deck next to his fallen body and let out a relieved breath of air to see he was just asleep. The whirring of the canon slowed until the sound and movement completely stopped, returning it back to normal.

"Is he going to be ok?" She wondered out loud.

"Don't worry." Sakura coaxed. "Naruto isn't a normal person. There's been something off about him for as long as I have known him. Once in a while he'll do something weird like this, but when he wakes up, he'll be good as new. Now come on, let these oafs bring him to his cabin, I'll show you to your bunk."

* * *

Knock, knock, knock… "Naruto-kun… I'm coming in." Hinata opened the door to the captain's quarters and stepped into the room. So far, Naruto has been asleep for three days since passing out on the deck of the ship. Every day, Hinata would take it upon herself to take care of him in his condition. It wasn't the most flattering tasks but she couldn't let him suffer.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata knelt down next to the bed and wiped a damp cloth across his face, smiling while taking in his features. She turned away to place the cloth in the small bowl on the floor and when she turned back, she found a pair of blue eyes looking at her. She blushed while she was frozen in his gaze and didn't even notice the hand that pushed a lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"You had your hair trimmed." He commented before pulling himself up into a sitting position. She was still watching him with her hands held together in front of her chest.

"It looks good… I like the expression in your eyes." Her hair was now trimmed up to where her bangs fell right above her eyebrows and the length of it was currently pulled up into a pony tail. There were two locks of hair that would fall down and frame out her face, one of which was now tucked behind her ear.

"Um… how are you feeling?" She asked after finally getting her voice back.

"I'm actually feeling pretty good, how long did I sleep?"

"About three days."

"What!? How could I sleep for three days? Wouldn't I still have to hit the head?" This caused Hinata's face to turn completely red.

"Y… Yes you would."

"Huh? You mean?" He looked over at her and pointed at her inquisitively. "Did you?"

"Yes I saw it!" She shrieked and buried her face in her hands.

"Eh, saw what?" He asked, not following her.

"Y… y…your p… p… pen… … …" and that was all she wrote for the young woman. The embarrassment was too much for her and she passed out.

"Hey Hinata?" He called out to her fallen form and lightly slapped her face. After the first attempt, he gave up and placed her on his bed. Now fully awake, he put on his hat and headed out onto deck.

"Captain on deck!" Shouted the first person to lay eyes on the blonde. Naruto stepped out into the bright sun and stretched out his arms with a big yawn.

"At ease boys… I'm going to hit the head." After his return, he was happy to see Hinata back among the conscious and out helping where she could. The moment he made eye contact with her, he smiled and she blushed and looked the other way. He shrugged his shoulders and headed back up to the quarter deck.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei." He greeted. "Where are we?"

"About half a day's travel from the Island of Grass. We decided to stop there to resupply and figure out the next plan of attack."

"Works for me. The next thing on my list is to figure out what the deal is with that cannon. Once we get that figured out, we'll be able to stick it to those navy guys." Naruto looked back over to where Hinata was now helping clean the deck. The moment she became aware of his gaze, she quickly turned away and moved to a different part of the deck.

"Kakashi-sensei, how has Hinata been fitting in?"

"Actually quite well. She respects everyone and they respect her in return." The silver haired man replied

"So why is she acting so weird?"

"Weird?" The older man asked inquisitively.

"Yeah… She's been avoiding me since I woke up; she even passed out when I asked a simple question."

"You shouldn't have to worry; I'm sure she has her reasons." He told him knowingly. Not many could overlook the clear signs she was showing. "She was the one looking over you while you were out."

"I figured that one out… But why would she do that?" The blonde wondered.

"Now that is something you're just going to have to figure out yourself."

* * *

After pulling down their pirating flag, they headed into port under the guise of escorts for the retrofitted merchant ship. At that particular port, there was a search team that would come out and take a look at your ship and crew. With the increasing amount of pirating taking place on the open seas the island was cracking down on pirates venturing into port. Now having a heavily armed escort wasn't anything unusual to see; there was the major problem of the hidden under deck howitzers on the ship posing as a merchant ship. The search crew was just getting started when the women came out from their quarters and headed topside. Just the appearance of four beautiful women on the ship was enough to strengthen their claims as merchants, but with a few techniques performed by Ino, they had completely forgotten the rest of the inspections and following her into town.

"I don't want to know what she said to them, but let's go before they change their minds." Naruto commented with a laugh. He was headed for the dock when he stopped next to Hinata.

"Hey, do you want to head out together?" She started blushing and looked away. He seemed a bit down at the taken rejection and moved to head out by himself until her quiet voice sounded.

"Ok, I'll go."

"Really? That's great!" He took off happily towards town with the young woman following at some distance behind.

"Why are you following so far behind?" Naruto called out after 30 meters into town. He stopped and waited for Hinata to catch up to him and stand by his side. Looking around he spotted a bench outside of the local shopping district and motioned for her to sit next to him. She never answered his question and sat down, nervously looking at her feet and tapping her fingers. He watched her with an amused smile.

"Hinata? Why do you do that?" Her face reddened and she immediately stopped her fingers.

"It's just a habit."

"A habit? Like a nervous one?" She slowly nodded her head.

"So why are you nervous? Is it because you're bothered by me?"

"NO!" She shouted much louder than she had originally desired. "I mean, no, I… I… you don't bother me at all. You're just… I've never been treated the way you treat me; it's like I'm a person again."

"I don't really follow you, but I'm glad you don't dislike me; actually, being with you makes me feel happy." He mentioned in an ignorant smile.

"It… It does?"

"Sure, you're beautiful, interesting, gentle and willing to help others. You'll never be a pirate with those qualities, but being around you might keep me from turning into one too."

"Why? Don't you like being a pirate?"

"Not really. Back a long time ago, I was alone; I had no parents and no home and only dreamed of being able to afford a good house and get married to an awesome young woman. Then came the day I turned 18; I received a package and with it was a bunch of letters, naval orders and various other things, including a very large bank account. I just seemed to have everything at that point until I figured out how my father died. Since that day I vowed to avenge him, or more accurately, to punish the people who made me live without my parents."

"So you became a pirate for vengeance?"

"Something like that. I also wanted to experience what my father experienced as a captain. Honestly, I wouldn't have become a pirate if my inheritance was large enough to support my entire vendetta alone. There was just no other way to earn capital. Of course we only go after targets who operate in questionable ways."

"I… I think I understand."

"Really?"

"Yep." She smiled brightly; her smile was so wide her eyes started to squint. There was still a deep rosy color on her cheeks while smiling, making her look cuter that before. Naruto couldn't help himself and ran his thumb across her cheek, causing her to jump suddenly.

"Sorry…"

"N… No, that was ok, I was just surprised."

"Really? You didn't mind?" This time he lifted his hand and cupped her cheek, wondering just how it was possible for skin to feel so soft. He tucked that lock of hair of hers behind her ear again and smiled before pulling back.

"I guess we should get moving, we need to get a few things ordered for the fleet." He stood up and moved towards the marketplace when he felt a sudden softness fill his hand. He looked back and saw Hinata, looking away with her head nearly steaming it was so red for the blood rush. He looked down and saw her soft little hand in his and then he glanced back to her.

"Hey… Is… Is this why you're embarrassed around me?" He asked. For a moment she didn't say or do anything until her small head nodded reluctantly. Having her small hand in his helped him to connect the dots of why she behaved as she did, but even then he didn't fully understand it. It was very surprising to him, but he enjoyed the contact, causing him to smile and grip her hand while pulling her to her feet. He kept a firm grip on her and started off again towards the marketplace with Hinata at his side.

* * *

Hinata stayed silent while they moved from place to place putting in Choji's orders for produce and other ingredients. Her cheeks remained rosy and was overjoyed to be led around by the hand. She wasn't able to explain her attraction to the young pirate, but feelings such as these aren't supposed to make sense anyways. Once the dealings were complete, the pair were headed back towards port when one of the Kyuubi's crew hands ran up to them in a panic.

"Captain! We have a **_BIG_** Problem!" He shouted while making panicked gestures towards the harbor.

"What is it?"

"Ships; Lots of them." The three were now running through the village and out onto the docks. Naruto immediately looked to the horizon and saw the cause of panic. Many large ships were moving into position around the harbor. He ran up the docking platform, with Hinata in tow, and ran up the stairs to the quarterdeck.

"Kakashi-sensei!?" He shouted.

"They're the Akatsuki; a group of pirate captains banded together for an unknown reason. They just sent a message to us demanding our surrender. It would seem that the mining island was one of their territories."

"That isn't good… If they start to attack, the village could be in trouble… PREPARE TO LAUNCH!" Naruto commanded after a quick assessment of the situation.

"Ino hasn't returned yet; we sent someone out to find her but they haven't returned."

"Leave the Akamaru behind for her, the rest of us will go ahead. When Ino arrives, or if we make it to the halfway point, launch and catch up at full speed. MOVE OUT!" The three large ships started to turn out to sea and face the blockade of ships at broadside, ready to rain down their attacks.

"Hinata; can you see how many ships are out there? I don't want to break through one line and find a second."

"Ok…" She grabbed the scope he held out to her and scanned the horizon. "It looks like a single line and about 10 ships. All of them have at least 60 canons aimed from broadside."

"OK, so we just need to figure out this first row…" There was a small puff of smoke from one of the ships, followed by the others firing a single shot.

"This could be trouble…" Hinata commented. "It looks like they are sighting in their attacks. They are expecting a punch through tactic, so the moment we are in range, they will open fire."

"You're right, that is trouble. Any word from Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, but you won't like it." Kakashi answered.

"What did he say?"

"In his words exactly: We're screwed."

"Great… Kakashi-sensei, take Hinata, Sakura and all unessential crew onto the long boats and head for shore. Tell the other ships to retreat."

"And what of the Kyuubi?"

"We're going to attack; I have to give them what they want or they won't leave the island alone."

"No Naruto-kun." Hinata shouted and tightly gripped his hand. "I won't leave; I will face them with you."

"But…"

"She's right." Kakashi mentioned without taking a step. "This is our battle as well. The other ships answered your order with: 'Moron', and 'I respectfully decline', you can figure out which came from which."

"But you all…"

"We are with you captain!" Shouted the whole deck of the Kyuubi, showing their support.

"But…" Naruto's protest was quickly ended when Hinata leaned in closer to him.

"You are the captain. Captain's don't run." She then lightly kissed his cheek and wore a sweet smile while Naruto looked dumbfounded.

A loud whirring sound started up again, just like previously from the fore of the ship, but this time the barrel was spinning even faster and gaining momentum along with intensity of sound.

"What is going on!?" Hinata shouted over the deafening whirring. The whirring continued getting even louder and soon a strange blue light started forming around the barrel of the main cannon, slowly intensifying and condensing into the end.

"I think it is going to fire!" Naruto shouted with pure happiness. "Go, Rasengan!" A deep, hollow 'pop' reverberated and echoed across the ship as a large blue ball launched out from the cannon with the dying down of the whirring. The ball was shrouded with four spiraling tails of chakra, rotating around the base.

"I don't think that is the Rasengan." Kakashi muttered as he saw the ball of energy approach the blockade.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, still happy to see the cannon fire.

"The Rasengan aboard the 'Yondaime Hokage' was much smaller and didn't have the shuriken look to it." The ball of energy was just about to contact the ship in front of them when it suddenly grew nearly 10 times the size, and engulfed three of the ships in its brilliant light.

"Holy Shit!" The ball of light dissipated quickly, leaving complete annihilation in its wake.

"I… I don't think it's over." Hinata muttered while pointing at the place of its explosion. Just like she said, the ocean waters around the epicenter were now swirling, much like the uzumaki's near Naruto's home island, allowing current to start to pull the other two ships near the blast into each other.

"Where's the Akamaru, we have to make a run for it!" Naruto looked behind towards the island and saw the little red sailed ship approaching at a great velocity.

"All hands, Full ahead!" Each of the ships accelerated to their full speed while the other members of the blockade were attempting to regroup and close the gap, except for the two caught in the manmade Uzumaki (whirlpool). Those two were fighting the current in hopes of getting away, but it proved to be too strong and the ships collided. The Kyuubi led the way past the colliding ships, just on the port side of the large current. A few of the closest Akatsuki ships opened fired, but the iron projectiles were falling well short of their desired target.

"This is it, let's get the hell out of here!" Within a few minutes, the ships were fading off towards the horizon. Naruto looked behind and saw one of the two colliding ships break apart and start its journey to the bottom of the sea.

"Yeah, now that's…." Naruto never got to finish his remark as he fell face forward and was asleep the moment he hit the deck.

"Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted while trying to wake him to no avail.

* * *

...Later


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

The heat and humidity was stifling within the wooden walls of the captain's quarters. You could feel the suns heat radiating off the walls, raising the temperature even further. It had to be nearly 100 degrees in the sweltering room. Naruto weakly raised his hand and wiped at the sweat beading up on his brow. His head felt a little foggy in the haze from his regained consciousness. For some reason, his bed felt strangely crowded on that sultry day and he could hear the presence of someone else in the room.

"Is that you Hinata?" He looked to the side and saw the dark haired woman sprawled out next to him. Her hair was strewn out underneath her small body. There was a thin sheen of sweat across her gentle face and down her neck to her glistening chest. The slit down the neck of her very thin shirt was pulled open allowing an unbelievable view halfway down the center of her chest. Although everything was covered, it was still something very enthralling.

Naruto didn't say anything and took the opportune time to watch her sleeping movements. The slight rise and fall of her chest in time with her breathing was soothing and the way her lips quivered upon each breath made him smile. He had his head propped up on his arm to continue watching her sleep until her eyelids started to flutter. Her pale eyes opened and glanced over and saw his smiling face looking at her. She smiled lightly and hid her face with one of her arms.

"Why are you watching me?" she squeaked.

"Because you are fun to watch… And you are in my bed."

"Oh, sorry…" She moved to roll off the bed when her shoulder was pulled back.

"I didn't say you had to go." He whispered

"I… I have to go." She replied

"Why?" She turned back to him with a serious but embarrassed look on her face.

"I have to **_go_**." She rolled off the bed and slipped on her normal outer clothing on and hurried out of the cabin.

"Damn, can it get any hotter in here?" He took off his sweat soaked shirt and wiped down his body with a clean cloth before stepping outside, still shirtless.

"Naruto-kanchou, welcome back." Kakashi greeted when the young man arrived on the quarterdeck.

"Good to be back. So where are we? It feels like we're sailing straight to hell."

"We're just outside of Fire Island."

"Fire Island? Why are we here?"

"The crews of the fleet took a vote; we all decided that we should push to the end of your mission to free you from your burden. You're not a pirate." Kakashi paused when he noticed Naruto had zoned out while staring at Hinata.

"As I was saying… you're not cut out for this. You should really think about taking that girl and settling down." He slapped the blonde on the back and went back to reading his novel.

"You think she would?"

"I've been reading these novels for years; even I can tell when one is playing out. When the battle is over, take her and go home."

"I'll… I'll think about it." Naruto walked to the aft of the ship and leaned on the railing overlooking the sea. He seriously thought about what his future would be like after settling the score.

"You ok?" Asked a gentle voice from behind him.

"Hinata? Yeah, I'm ok. Could you leave me alone for a while? I need to think things through alone for a bit."

"Um… I guess so." She looked a little down as she turned back.

"Oh, Hinata… There is something I'd like to talk with you about; could you come by sometime tonight?"

"O… OK." She was worried about what was going on with him and decided she would have to wait to figure out what it was. She gently touched his hand and headed away from him as he requested.

* * *

When night fell, the temperature strangely remained very high and humid. There was barely enough wind to move forward and as such, no one was allowed any comfort from the heat. There was a light knock at the door of the captain's cabin. Naruto sighed…

"Come in." The door opened and like he anticipated, it was Hinata. She walked in, shyly slipping through the partially opened door. Her form seemed to shrink in size whenever she was nervous, and this was progressing in the same manner. The young captain was sitting in his chair behind the desk with a serious look on his face.

"Close the door and take a seat." She gave a slight nod and shut the door before sitting. She immediately went back to her nervous habit of tapping her fingers as they sat in complete silence.

"Hinata, after we complete our mission against Konoha; what do you plan to do?" He inquired, hoping to gauge the situation

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it."

"I think you should." He urged.

"Why, I can't stay here anymore?" She asked, showing the unease on her face.

"It's not that… I'm going to retire from this life and decommission the Kyuubi when we finish."

"Then I… I don't know. When we are done, I won't have a place to call home. Where am I going to go?" Her eyes were beginning to water as she thought about it.

"That's why I asked you here… When I go home…" There was a few moments of dead silence while he tried to assemble his words correctly.

"When I go back; will you come with me?"

"Go with you? What do you mean?"

"You really need me to say it?" He let out another sigh and turned to face the wall. "I'd… I'd like you to live with me when I go back." There was another long break where there was absolutely no sound. Naruto was too afraid to turn around and see her gone, but whet he didn't expect to see was a woman with tears dripping from her cheeks. It was difficult to see in the dim light in the room, but when he turned, he could see it. She slowly raised her head and displayed a sweet smile though the tears.

"I… I'll go with you. Actually, I would like that." She answered.

"You will? That's awesome!" He jumped over his desk and scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tight.

"You really don't mind being with me?"

"No, of course not…" She moved her head out of his grasp and gently kissed him to prove her point. After pulling back she buried her face in his neck without even looking at his stunned expression.

"I can't believe I did that." Came her muffled comment. Naruto could feel her face heating up as she held onto him. Part of her didn't want to let go because she enjoyed the contact, but there was another part that didn't want him to see how embarrassed she was with her forwardness.

"Hinata?" He pulled her back to look at her face and was overwhelmed by how she looked and how he felt for her at that moment.

"Do you think you would…?" He nervously scratched his head, and her arms tightened around his torso.

"Would you like to spend the night?" Her face flushed darker than before and there was no answer, but she didn't loosen her grip on him either. He leaned forward and returned the earlier kiss with one much deeper and passionate. Hinata made no attempt to stop him and was clearly actively participating in the kiss. She let out a surprised, muffled scream when she felt her body fall onto the bed with the blonde captain on top of her, still keeping contact with her lips. When he finally broke off from her, he smiled at her half opened eyes and reached for the bottom of her shirt.

"Is this ok?" He asked while tugging on the shirt. She was much too embarrassed to answer verbally and only raised her arms so he could slide the clothing off of her. Her creamy white skin was revealed bit by bit until her top half was completely uncovered and still being in a state of extreme bashfulness, Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him firmly over her body.

"I… I've n… never…" He responded with a nod and kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear.

"Me neither."

* * *

Morning aboard the Kyuubi was unbelievably hot, but not nearly as hot as what happened in the captain's quarters during the night. Naruto stepped out into the sun without his shirt once again and breathed in the air. The dull, heavy scent of the pitch sealant was unbelievably thick in the heat as it oozed from some of the joints while in a quasi-melted state. There was a sweet, yet salty, smell mixing in with it from the mess hall but it couldn't quite do battle with such a heavy smell and was easily drowned out.

The captain moved to the aft and took his usual thinking spot while looking out across the sea. The light breeze ruffled his hair and washed some of the overpowering tar smell away with it. He closed his eyes and heard the rippling of the massive red sails and the light creaks from the ropes and masts at the mercy of the wind's forces. As he was enjoying the senses of the sailing experience, he felt a hand contact the top of his with their fingers intertwining.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, as the young woman flipped her blowing hair behind her ear.

"A tad tired, but I feel great." She answered.

"That's nice to hear… I'm sure we're going to encounter some enemy resistance today, so I want you to be careful."

"I'll do my best." He smiled at her and gave her shoulders a light squeeze.

"Well, I guess it is time for me to act like a captain again." He kissed her cheek and headed back to his cabin and threw on the rest of his clothing so he looked the part once more. After returning to the deck, he hurried up to the quarter deck and took his usual captaining spot by the wheel. He took out his scope and started scanning the horizon.

* * *

The day continued to drag on without conflict, nothing was spotted on the long range scope; the sea was empty. Naruto sighed as he went about scanning the horizon for what seemed like the millionth time that day. The countless looks and glances earned him nothing. He was just about to take a break when something strange started to appear. The object sat like a ship in the water, but there was a lack of sails upon it, just a trail of smoke billowing out above it.

"Everyone stay on guard, something is approaching at 2'oclock." All those with scopes looked in the direction of the approaching intruder and were as equally as confused with the strange look of it.

"Any idea Kakashi-sensei?"

"Only one… an Iron Clad."

"An Iron Clad? What's that?"

"A ship covered with iron armor and runs on steam. Normal cannonballs have been rumored to bounce off of their hulls."

"Are you kidding? How many of these things are out there?" He wondered, hoping there weren't too many in existence.

"No idea, since I'm not privy to that information anymore, but there can't be too many. Konoha has an abundance of wood but not the materials to refine for large amounts of iron. You would need to procure mining… … …?"

"What about mining?"

"That mining island had everything necessary to create iron clads."

"So… are you saying those Akatsuki were part of Konoha's fleet?" The events just started to get more intertwined.

"Actually, if I were to guess, Konoha is part of their fleet. That could be the whole reason for the loss of the 'Yondaime Hokage'."

"Right, so on the chance that Konoha is part of Akatsuki, how many ships would we be talking here? There were 10 stationed outside of Grass Island."

"If we are correct in this assumption, this Iron clad may be the last hurdle before reaching the batteries on the shore of Fire Island. Last time I served as captain, Fire Island usually kept a naval fleet of about 15 war ships at any given time. Now of these 15 usually only 3 to 5 were stationed around the island, the rest were executing mission of anti-piracy and such among the Elemental Islands."

"So, why would they leave Fire Island unguarded?"

"Probably because it serves no purpose anymore." Kakashi pointed out.

"Well, it's great that we only have to deal with this one ship, but how do we take down something so heavily armed?" Naruto asked, with a contemplating look.

"Remember the shells we loaded onto the 'Kurenai'? Those howitzer shells are explosive. If we let them loose, we may detonate their ammunition and end their ship." Shikamaru suggested.

"How about using the Rasengan?" The blonde wondered to himself out loud.

"That weapon is still erratic. We have no idea what causes it to fire and the last two times it reacted, you were out cold for days. I talked it over with Shikamaru and he agreed that there was something dangerous with the link between you and the cannon. If at all possible, we don't want to use it."

"Captain, we are starting to see the Island!" Shouted a crew member on lookout duty.

"And the Ironclad?"

"It isn't advancing on us… It would seem they are at full reverse, possibly falling back to reinforce the harbor."

"Got it, relay all this to Shikamaru and stand by to receive our tactics… All hands to battle stations!" The crew scrambled to their positions as they awaited their orders.

xxxx

Minutes and minutes passed with the minutes turning into an hour. The small fleet continued following the iron clad ship closer to the island and quickly got to realize just how large Fire Island was. The land was covered in a lush forest and you could just now start to see the droves of wildlife taking flight above the trees.

"Sir, the Iron clad has stopped."

"Alright men! Onward into battle." The red sailed fleet proceeded onward without letting up on the speed until the howitzers were within their maximum range and the sails were closed to stop the ships. The 'Kurenai's' foremast folded forward and cleared the trajectory of the howitzers being uncovered. Shikamaru was below deck, running the calculations for aiming the devices when the order came in.

"OPEN FIRE!" The large cannons sent up the first salvo, and while most missed their target completely, Shikamaru was able to start making adjustments for better accuracy.

"Captain, incoming on our 6!" Naruto whirled around and saw the 5 remaining Akatsuki ships bearing down on them.

"We'll bring the Susanoo and the Kyuubi behind the Kurenai for a broadside attack." He ordered.

The two larger vessels got into position on either side of the Kurenai, with their broadsides pointed towards their enemies with the Akamaru positioned at the rear of the merchant ship. In battles like this, the best thing for a small ship like that to do is to stay out of the way.

"The Iron clad has started approaching at a high rate of speed!" The smoke billowed from that ship as it accelerated to speeds incapable by sail. With the added rate of speed, the calculations for artillery fire became more complicated.

"FIRE! EVERYONE FIRE!" Naruto shouted. Cannon blasts deafened everyone within earshot. Iron was hurtling in every direction as the small fleet was getting surrounded by ship to ship fire, one in front and 5 behind. The ones approaching from the rear were just now within firing range and the Kyuubi's cannons roared to life.

"Now! Begin operation." As quickly as he said that, the Susanoo's sails dropped and it started to turn towards the 5 Akatsuki ships. The ship was moving along at a slow pace due to having to cross the direction of the wind. The five ships moved closer together to assure the fleeing ship wouldn't make it by and started firing their forward cannons. The projectiles ripped through the sails and started knocking down the masts, forcing the ship to come to a stop. The five ships moved to surround the Susanoo when it suddenly exploded, engulfing the ships in a ball of flames.

"That's a shame." Sasuke commented with a sullen look aboard the Kyuubi while watching the Susanoo burn. He was strangely emotional at the loss of his ship, but it had done its job well. The five Akatsuki ships were burning with it in a massive ship funeral.

"Shikamaru's plan went well." Naruto commented while smacking the Uchiha. "Now help coordinate the end of the Ironclad."

Naruto was correct, Shikamaru's plan did proceed as planned. They had rigged the vessel with all the extra gunpowder available into the center of the ship and lined the walls with pieces of iron coated in pitch, so when it exploded, there would be hoards of fiery shrapnel launched in every to help spread fires. Even though that part was a success, there was still the problem of the ironclad ship nearly upon them.

"Sir, we're not going to sink it in time!"

"Drop the sails! Get us out of the way!" Naruto commanded. "Let out the auxiliaries!"

The sails dropped and the two remaining large ships lurched forward, scrambling to get out of the way of the ironclad ship. The Kurenai was easily out of the path of the ship, but the Kyuubi was still in danger even with the added sailing surface from the auxiliary side sails. Naruto jumped to the wheel and wrenched the ship towards the starboard side.

"Grab something and Hang on!" He ordered as the iron clad ship glanced along the side of the ship. The Kyuubi was pushed upwards, tilting the ship to its side creaking and scraping down the length of the ship until the armored vessel passed by, allowing the Kyuubi to settle back into the water.

"Get me a damage report!" The crew was scrambling around the ship while Naruto grabbed his scope and dialed it in on the fleeing iron clad.

"What the hell!" Naruto shouted in disbelief.

"Kanchou?"

"The ship, everyone is dead, and the deck is in shambles, but the hull is still undamaged… This may just be the end of wooden sailing vessels." The blonde was amazed at how resilient that ship was, but fortunately for them, the crew wasn't made of steel.

"I suppose you are right." Kakashi relented. The ironclad ghost ship tore straight through the burning wreckage of the other 6 ships and kept on going. At some point it will run out of fuel for the steam engine, but for now, it is unstoppable.

"Sir, we have multiple hull breeches and repairs are underway." One of the crew hands informed in reply to the earlier request for a damage report.

"Good, how long?"

"About an hour."

"Half it."

"Aye sir." Naruto sighed and firmly grasped the wheel. He would have loved to sprawl himself out on the deck and take a breather, but he had to keep his appearances up. Once they were clear from the wreckage and was sure the iron clad was out of sight, Naruto locked the wheel in its current direction.

"Strategy meeting… We're making land fall tonight." The ships slowed and gathered together so the other captains could board and head to the Captain's cabin. Shikamaru had his map out and was pointing at a few strategic points of interest when Hinata entered and all eyes turned to her.

"Hinata… We'd like to avoid needless destruction and since you lived in Konoha, we'd like your suggestions and input." She nodded and came around to look at the map.

"There should be two major targets, one will be the manor where my clan lives. They are masters of hand to hand combat, so be careful of them. And the next is the Village hall where the council conducts their business. You will also want to take out the four artillery emplacements at the mouth of the harbor. The Kurenai should have the range to take them out without being in their firing range."

"OK, thanks a bunch… Well, anything else you need Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.

"No, this is enough… the plan is simple… Force our way in and follow the suggestions of Hinata."

"Then that's settled… Move out!"

* * *

The sun was starting to set upon Konohagakure no kaikou. The brilliant red hues of the fading light emblazed the unsuspecting land in a foreboding color. The citizens of the port town were starting to set off for home when a massive explosion was felt, shaking the ground. The men of the village paused and looked for the source of the quake.

"It's here! The Kyuubi is attacking!" Shouted a man as he ran through the harbor town, inciting panic to all. Three more massive explosions soon followed in quick succession before all hell broke loose in the village. Iron projectiles flew overhead, smashing through walls and buildings, sending clods of earth spiraling into the air.

"Where's the defensive line?!" Called out a village elder as he ran towards the village hall for shelter.

"Danzo-sama, have you heard back from the Akatsuki fleet?" he called out as he entered the hall.

"Nothing… We got word that the Kyuubi broke through their blockade and took out half of them in one attack."

"What should we do?"

"I guess we should…" He then paused as there was this strange whistling noise. "… Kiss our asses good bye?" the whistling stopped when it was replaced by a thunderous echo as it rocked the building. The walls started to crack and the roof began caving in.

"Oh god!" The man spoke as he looked up and saw at least five flaming projectiles falling towards the ground. The balls exploded upon contact and engulfed the building and inhabitants in a raging inferno.

The flames were growing in the village as it started to swallow everything in its path. The villagers were torn between fleeing and attempting to apply water to the burning buildings when the bombing suddenly stopped.

"They're coming ashore!" A villager shouted as he witnessed the landing ships being rowed to shore.

"Guard the women and children!"

* * *

Naruto and his band of pirates landed on the shore of Konoha. Hinata was by his side as a guide through the town, hiding slightly behind his raised sword.

"Alright men, just like the other times…. Let's go!" The large assault group started their invasion when a shaky man ran out waving a white flag.

"Please, spare the women and children!" He begged. "Take my life instead." Naruto raised his sword and halted his team's advance.

"Stand up." He ordered the man. "Go and tell the rest of the villagers that we are only here for your leaders. If you do not raise arms against us, we will not fight you and you will be spared, I only want the ones responsible for the death of Namikaze Minato, my father." The man bowed his head before tuning tail and running away.

"Alright Hinata, lead us towards your clan's housing." She nodded and the assault continued. The crew spread out across the village in great numbers, fighting back those who thought to fight their advance, but without their command center the resistance was falling apart fast. Naruto and Hinata rounded the corner and saw the clan housing was in shambles. The young woman had a touch of sadness at the destruction of her home, but it passed quickly when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulder.

"Be careful Hinata." He urged. She smiled and placed her hand over his and nodded.

"Thank you that helps a lot." He removed his hand and headed towards the estate entrance. They stepped over the many fallen pillars of wood and concrete, making their way through to where her father could be. Hinata was slowly looking over the fallen bodies to confirm her father's whereabouts when she felt a dull pain in her arm, someone had a crushing grip on her.

"Naruto!" She shouted, causing the man to whirl around and see a tall dark-haired man forcefully holding her captive.

"Stay back!" The man urged as he raised a short sword to her neck.

"Let Hinata go you asshole!" The man paused and wrenched the girl's face around for a look.

"Well, so it is… How did you get back here? I thought I was rid of you for good." Hinata gasped.

"What do you mean?"

"Our Navy was running short on capital, so I arranged you to be kidnapped for a large sum of money."

"But I'm your daughter!"

"I never saw it that way… You were the daughter of that whore who couldn't keep her mind off Hizashi, my brother, even after I killed him. She kept going on and on about how she missed him, even while in my bed."

"That's… that's horrible!" She shouted in disgust.

"Oh, would you like to hear more?"

"No… I don't need to hear anything else from you. You're a monster and you helped kill my mother who was on the 'Yondaime Hokage'."

"My, my, don't we have a bit of knowledge? Where did you hear this from?" He asked until he realized the sharp glare coming from the blonde. "You, huh? You seem familiar…" Hiashi snickered.

"Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag, or so it goes…" The elder Hyuuga started. "True, I was one of many behind the sinking of the Yondaime Hokage, but I bet you didn't know this part… Your mother survived." Hinata gasped when he paused with that news.

"Yeah, she was alive until I slit her throat!" Hinata turned from surprised to pissed in an instant and started struggling against her father's grip when she heard a booming voice.

"Let her go or I'll blow your head off!" Naruto commanded with his flintlock pistol aimed at the man.

"Are you going to take that chance? Those things aren't very accurate, but that sure does bring back memories… I remember the last time a guy pointed one of those at me. He was a survivor as well, but his flint got wet and didn't fire, so I killed him as well… what was his name again… Oh yeah Minato… He looked a lot like you."

Naruto gritted his teeth and started applying pressure to the trigger of his gun. Hiashi noticed and He further hid behind the girl like a shield, further angering the blonde. Naruto was so fueled by his anger that he was starting to entertain the notion of firing just inches from Hinata's face with the inaccurate weapon when a loud bang rang out. There were tears flowing down Hinata's face while she shook uncontrollably while her father's grip loosened on her body. A large smoking pistol fell out from her clothing and hit the ground along with the male Hyuuga. Naruto lunged forward and caught the woman's small frame in his arms before she hit the ground.

"Are you Ok Hinata?" She didn't answer and just wept on his shoulder. She knew that he got what he deserved, but he was still her father. Naruto held her tight and noticed there was just a bloody spot where Hiashi had fallen and no body. His eyes darted around in search for the man when he suddenly saw him with sword in hand lunging forward. Without a moment to spare, he lifted his pistol and fired directly at the man's face without any hesitation. Hinata jumped from the sudden gunshot and tried to look back, but her face was held forward.

"Ok, now it's over." He muttered and led the woman away from the gruesome sight left behind them. There was no way he'd let her see what a man's face looked like after a shot by a .62 caliber projectile. The pair stepped out of the ruins of the Hyuuga estate and heard the softening sounds of battle starting to subside in the village. They followed the sounds which soon broke out into victorious cheering, marking the end of their campaign. Naruto had to laugh though as he saw his crew cheering and dancing since the villagers were joining in the celebration.

"I guess the villagers didn't like their leaders either." Naruto commented.

"Yeah… it is too bad there is no one here to lead them." Hinata mentioned with a sly smirk.

"You have a point… Wait are you saying?" She just smiled and looked down at her feet.

"You are a great leader, just not one made for looting and pillaging; besides… look at all those villagers. This place may hold many bad memories, but after seeing how happy they are, how could we resist?"

"You… How long did you have this planned out?"

"Since… _that_ night." She replied with a blush.

"So you really want to live here?"

"Yes Naruto-kun… Let's live here together." Naruto smiled and pulled Hinata with him to the middle of the crowd and jumped up onto a ledge.

"Alright men!" He shouted to get everyone's attention. "Hinata and I have decided to live here and help this village thrive. You are all welcome to stay or go." There was silence from the crew as they contemplated that their journey was over, but the more they thought about it, the more they realized what they wanted.

"It won't be the same without you captain! I can't go back to being a normal pirate!" One man shouted

"Yeah!" Shouted a chorus of other crew mates.

* * *

Years have passed since the Kyuubi Pirates took the village of Konohagakure no Kaikou and ending up settling there. The crew used the many pounds of gold which were pirated to build up the city to it proper glory and enjoyed the peace which fell as the age of pirating started to close with the invent of armored warships.

Naruto stood in a large warehouse looking up at the massive ship sitting in dry-dock storage. He moved his hand across the hull and felt the deep gouge from striking the iron clad. He had a small grin as he remembered all the missions they completed upon the vessel and how much joy the ship brought.

"Naruto-kun… Do you miss the pirating?" He looked over at the voice of his wife and smiled.

"Not at all…" He wrapped his arm around the woman and placed his hand on her bulging stomach. "I was just thinking about taking the kids out when they are older."

"They?" She asked while holding her stomach.

"Well yeah, it's not like I'll be able to keep my hands off you after just one." She just giggled and nestled her head against his chest.

"I guess we could have a few more."

"A few?"

"Yep… I can't keep my hands off you either…"

The pair continued laughing at their little jokes when they suddenly heard the whirring of the large cannon on board the Kyuubi. They never really ever figured out what it was that powered that large canon, but that could be a whole other story.

* * *

I really didn't intend to publish this one, but after finding it again in the depths of my HDD, I figured... why not? It isn't a bad story...

Hope you enjoyed and maybe this wont be my last... but I wouldn't bet a lot of $$ on it ...Later


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